On Sunday night, Wizards rookie Bilal Coulibaly issued a forewarning to the NBA.
Offensively, Coulibaly poured on 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting, highlighted by four scorching 3-pointers on seven attempts. He also added three assists, helping to connect the offense as a whole when on-court.
On defense — Coulibaly’s claim-to-fame to this point in his young career — he added four patented steals, turning that into transition offense with force.
Despite the 9-point loss to Brooklyn, Coulibaly was easily the team’s best player on the night. An impressive accolade for the still 19-year-old in what was the best performance of his 9-game career so far.
Perhaps the sweetest part for Wizards’ fans, is that the high-level performance might just be a glimpse into Coulibaly’s future.
At 6-foot-7, Coulibaly has immense potential already as a prospect who has risen through basketball ranks with a quickness. In 27 games in the French LNB Pro A league alongside Victor Wembanyama, Coulibaly averaged 5.0 points and 3.1 rebounds, but was a catalyst for the Metropolitans 92 final run.
Despite that, Coulibaly is still a raw prospect overall. But his averages of 8.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.8 blocks on the season are incredibly promising for the new era of Washington basketball. All-in-all, it seems the Wizards have at least made off with a strong potentially connective forward in their first rebuilding draft, who could blossom into much more.
He may still be a few years away from truly ascending in the NBA, but there’s no questioning the No. 7 overall pick’s potential on night’s like Sunday.
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