Every other day leading up to the 2025-26 regular season, Pippen Ain’t Easy will profile a Chicago Bulls player, reviewing their contributions from last season and projecting their role for the year ahead.
The Bulls’ selection of French teenager Noa Essengue with the No. 12 pick received all the 2025 NBA Draft headlines in Chicago, and for good reason. The pick of Lachlan Olbrich in the second round came with (a lot) less fanfare, but the Australian big man has a few tools that could earn him some immediate minutes.
Olbrich’s physical attributes won’t wow anyone. He stands 6-foot-9 and a solid 230 pounds with a 6-foot-11 ¼ wingspan, but his vertical leap of 23.5 inches was second-worst of all prospects who participated at the 2025 draft combine. He was also near the bottom in the lane agility and three-quarter-court sprint drills.
His stats with the Illawarra Hawks in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) don’t stick out, either. In 60 games over three seasons, Olbrich averaged 6.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists. Last year was his most productive — he averaged 8.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 16.7 minutes per game across 29 contests. He shot 24 total 3-pointers in his NBL career.
But it’s the things that don’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet that drove the Bulls to make him the 55th overall pick and could earn Olbrich playing time as a rookie.
Lachlan Olbrich must do the little things to crack Bulls’ rotation
You may be asking: “If Olbrich isn’t a great athlete and didn’t produce at a high level in the NBL, what makes Chicago think he’ll be able to hang in the NBA?” And that’s a valid question.
Well, he won multiple Most Valuable Player awards in New Zealand and played a significant role on a Breakers team that won the 2025 NBL Championship. Before he went overseas, he was the Big West Freshman of the Year with UC Riverside. He brings multiple seasons of professional experience with him to The League.
In short, Olbrich is an accomplished, high-IQ forward with a winning pedigree at just 21 years old. He’s fairly polished in the post and knows where, when and how to make the correct play, whether it’s ducking and diving with good footwork on the block or reading a defense and making an accurate pass. He knows his role and won’t overstep.
He’ll need to improve his outside shot to become any sort of legitimate offensive threat, but Olbrich is a tough, smart, savvy role player willing to do the little things. Those guys always have a place on an NBA roster. But if he wants to crack the rotation as a rookie, he’ll need to prove to Bulls head coach Billy Donovan that those skills are enough.
