In trading for the draft rights of raw Metropolitans 92 small forward Bilal Coulibaly with the No. 7 pick, the Wizards were gambling on his ceiling, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. The 6’8″ swingman has tantalizing length and athleticism, but will probably require significant NBA run to fully marinate at the next level.
“It could take some time, but from where he went in a short amount of time to where we think he can go, that’s the exciting part,” Wizards general manager Will Dawkins said. “And we’ll embrace that. We’ll put resources around him, try to help him maximize himself. At the end of the day, he has the physical tools, but he’s also a very skilled player. So once that comes together, I think you’ll have the player we’re looking for and the reason why we drafted him so high.”
There’s more out of Washington:
- During an introductory news conference held by Wizards team officials, Coulibaly seemed impressively relaxed and confident, writes Robbins in a separate story. During a subsequent chat with Robbins, Coulibaly expounded on what he intends to accomplish in his NBA career. “I want to be a good two-way player,” Coulibaly said. “But, yeah, I want to be a franchise player by the next four years. I want to stay in D.C., give it all for the fans, for the city.”
- With the Wizards now seemingly fully pivoting to a youth movement after trading their two starriest veterans (Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis), fans will have to embrace the long view rather than expecting big things in the short-term future, writes David Aldridge of The Athletic.
- Under its previous management group, the Wizards had been reticent to fully rebuild. In doing so now, the team should at least able to truly move on from a half decade of fringe mediocrity, opines Kevin B. Blackistone of The Washington Post. The Wizards have made the playoffs in just one of the past five seasons, but haven’t truly bottomed out and landed a top-five pick during that time.
Lol at semi-star… But Coulibaly has more than just length and athleticism. He has good handle, good instincts & a pretty tight shot too
I know it’s blasphemy these days to question a prospect but, the only successful euro to nba transplants are supremely skilled guys who frankly aren’t that impressive of physical specimens. Ginobili and Parker were average physically, Doncic is fat and slow, and Jokic is tall, but otherwise doesn’t look especially fit. All of them are/were crazy talented and took a bit to adjust to the NBA. Heck, Doncic still hasn’t figured out how to play defense.
Coulibaly, like Wemby, used size in a league full of short people to dominate. That’s not going to work in the NBA. Rarely does drafting Robin work out. Anyone else remember Zion and his Duke teammates? The last “best prospect in 20 years” got his teammates drafted higher than they should have been as well.
He has a long way to go. He needs 1 yr in G-league minimum. Still raw and the NBA isn’t the the French leagues. He didn’t even get off the bench to play against Scoot.
Like Tyson says “everyone gots a plan, till they get punched in the face”.
He’s got potential and upside. It’s going to take time.
Seems like his floor is Michael Pietrus. So he should have a good ceiling.
IMO, drafting Coulibaly was WSH’s best move of the off season. Low bar perhaps, but still true. If you’re just talking about physical attributes and demonstrated skills (however nascent), he checks the boxes for a 3/4 better than anyone in the draft except Miller. WSH, it appears, is taking the long road, so why not go for a guy who projects at the league’s most premium spot? Plus, I wasn’t that bullish on this draft after 3, and certainly not after 10. It was him or Walker or Hendricks. Whether he works out or not, I could live with this pick.
Yeah but after what Washington did. They need a HR here at least a Triple. We have to wait on him. Don’t rush this.
GMs still haven’t learned not to pick any guards from the LNB(French league) In the top 10 SMH.
link to m.youtube.com
Bruno should be ready by now