The Chicago Bulls have selected French-born small forward Noa Essengue in the first round of the NBA Draft.
Essengue, ranked among the top small forwards in this year’s class, averaged 10.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last season in 60 games played with Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany.
He converted 27.6% of his three-point attempts last season, and also averaged nearly a steal per game.
There had been speculation that the Bulls may select a big man with the 12th pick, butthey left Maryland’s Derik Queen, Georgetown’s Thomas Sorber and Joan Beringer out of France on the board to take Essengue.
The Bulls still have the No. 45 pick in the draft on Thursday, which they acquired in a trade with the Sacramento Kings.