The Washington Wizards not only taking Bilal Coulibaly but trading up for him
Listen, it’s probably fair to question the Washington Wizards are many things. You can second-guess their decision to essentially dump Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis. You can also question their move for Jordan Poole. However, one decision that I believe could end up hurting the Wizards more, in the long run, is their selection of Bilal Coulibaly. Not only to draft him but to trade up and give up an additional asset to do so.
The Wizards traded up from No. 8 to No. 7 (which is a question in itself) to select Coulibaly, one of the bigger question marks in the top 10. Washington probably didn’t even have to trade up to snag Coulibaly, with the Indiana Pacers targeting Jarace Walker, but I suppose they didn’t want to take the chance.
Either way, Washington is now all-in on Coulibaly. And maybe they end up being right. Maybe he does develop into one of the better wing players in the NBA. He has the skill set and ability to. The onus will now fall on the Wizards to develop him in their system. That said, the fact that the Wizards are kickstarting their full-blown rebuild with Poole and Coulibaly seems…how can I put this nicely…like a mistake.