Wizards Pair Could Benefit From Bilal Coulibaly Injury

With French wing Bilal Coulibaly sustained a significant thumb injury at EuroBasket 2025, the Washington Wizards have been put in a tough position. Heading into a crucial make-or-break season, the Wizards won’t get their next glimpse of the defensive star until after the start of 2025-26. Luckily for the organization, there are plenty of options emerging from the forward positions. Two players in particular could use the time that Coulibaly’s out to showcase their growth and secure extra minutes.

Wizards Pair Could Benefit From Bilal Coulibaly Injury

As previously mentioned, Washington has an incredible amount of depth at forward.

With Coulibaly projected to be out for 6-8 weeks, per RG’s Grant Afseth, 2024 first-round pick Kyshawn George and 2025 first-round pick Will Riley could be provided with an increase in playing time. To be clear, they’re both in different spots on the depth chart as George is already in the second unit and Riley’s projected to be outside of the rotation. Nevertheless, they stand the most to gain.

They don’t have too much time but more than enough put on a show.

That being said, there are two really important periods these players should lock in on. The first is Wizards training camp, which will start towards the end of September. Next is the 2025-26 NBA preseason, which starts right at the beginning of October. Both of these periods are crucial, as they will directly translate to playing time during the season.

Kyshawn George

George arguably deserves the starting spot heading into the year after his outstanding showing in this year’s FIBA’s AmeriCup. Still, a stellar training camp and solid preseason could secure his promotion. Notably, George and Coulibaly have similar games, but George is more polished at the offensive end. Most notably, he shoots better from 3 while displaying better playmaking ability than Coulibaly as well.