The Washington Wizards’ new front-office leaders refused to play it safe in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft.
They made the ultimate high-upside, high-risk decision Thursday night, choosing Bilal Coulibaly, a 6-foot-8 French wing with undeniable potential but also relatively limited high-level experience. Coulibaly can best be described as a long-term project, someone who, if developed properly and patiently, could become a cornerstone of the Wizards’ rebuild.
Will Dawkins, the Wizards’ new general manager, likened the 18-year-old, one of the youngest players in this year’s draft, to “a ball of clay.”
“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,” Dawkins added. “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.”
Technically, the Wizards didn’t draft Coulibaly. The Indiana Pacers selected him seventh, and the Wizards traded the draft rights to the eighth pick, University of Houston power forward Jarace Walker, and a pair of 2028 second-round picks to the Pacers for him.
The risk doesn’t stem from parting with a pair of second-round picks. Washington has plenty of second-round picks in its cupboard from trading Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns and from other recent moves.
The risk revolves around Coulibaly’s floor — and the Wizards’ longstanding tendency not to develop many of their young players. Washington instead could have chosen safer options at No. 8, including UCF power forward Taylor Hendricks.
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