On the most recent episode of Slate’s excellent Hang Up and Listen podcast, hosts Josh Levin, Stefan Fatsis and Joel Anderson questioned the G League Ignite’s utility amid college basketball’s newfound NIL era and the team’s poor results — a topic that deserves a column of its own — plus its sketchy record of producing successful NBA pros.
While the program has churned out a respectable 10 draftees in the past three seasons, the most successful Ignite alumnus thus far is… Jalen Green? Jonathan Kuminga?
During the podcast, Levin quipped that the “successful version” of the G League Ignite was actually Victor Wembanyama’s Metropolitans 92 from the French LNB Pro A, which in addition to producing the No. 1 overall pick, also saw wing-forward Bilal Coulibaly drafted seventh to the Washington Wizards.
Unlike Wembanyama, who draftniks penciled into the top spot a year in advance, Coulibaly was a late riser in the 2023 draft process. He started the 2022-23 season as a standout player for the club’s under-21 team before eventually emerging as a rotational piece in the senior squad alongside Wemby, declaring for the draft in late April 2023.
Like former Rookie report star GG Jackson, Coulibaly was one of the 2023 draft’s youngest players, meaning the rebuilding Wizards bet on his potential rather than his ability to win now.
And it’s a good thing the Wizards aren’t really trying to win this season. As of Wednesday, they have a putrid 9-49 record—the same as the Detroit Pistons, who famously endured a 28-game losing streak. If not for the Pistons’ more overt failures, the Wizards front office would probably be receiving considerable flak from the national media.
That being said, the Wizards lack two things that make the Pistons an easy target: a highly paid head coach (Monty Williams) and an interesting centerpiece on the court (Cade Cunningham).
Because Williams is one of the league’s best-compensated coaches and Cunningham is a former No. 1 overall pick, fans and the media should reasonably expect their rebuild to be further along.
And whatever you thought about the fired Wes Unseld Jr., the now-former Wizards coach didn’t have a lot to work with, namely because his team lacked a centerpiece of any real caliber.
Despite where you think this long preamble may be leading me, I regret to report that I don’t think Coulibaly is that potential All-NBA centerpiece.
But that’s perfectly fine. The Wizards are truly in stage zero of their rebuild. With the exception of Coulibaly, I would be semi-surprised to see any of these players on the roster three seasons from now. The Wizards’ goal was to bottom out in 2023-24; they currently hold the joint-best odds at the No. 1 overall pick, and while the 2024 draft doesn’t have the top-end talent of previous classes, the Wizards could use anybody with No. 1 or No. 2 scoring option potential.
Looking at the players who seem likely to land in the top three, could we see a French Revolution in the nation’s capital?
Jonathan Wasserman’s latest 2024 mock draft for Bleacher Report, for example, has Toulouse-native and current Perth Wildcats standout Alexandre Sarr going first to the Pistons and JL Bourg’s Zaccharie Risacher teaming up with compatriot Wembanyama on the San Antonio Spurs. And, yes, if you clicked on that link you saw that the Wizards sat sandwiched between these two picks, selecting Nikola Topić out of Serbia.
But here’s the thing: we have literally no clue what the actual draft order will be come June. So, for the time being, I’m going to dream about French duos in D.C. and Coulibaly has the perfect tools to support a bigger scorer in either the 7-foot-1 Sarr or Risacher, who’s 6-foot-9, plus or minus an inch depending on the site where you find his height.
Coming out of the draft, Coulibaly measured 6-foot-7 with an absurd 7-foot-2 wingspan that makes him a formidable defender even as one of the league’s youngest rookies. That width helps Coulibaly defend multiple positions and it’s easy to envision him playing even as a small-ball center if the Wizards’ future coach wanted to experiment with that kind of lineup. Averaging 26.7 minutes per game, the Frenchman posts almost a block (0.8) and a steal (0.9) per outing.
Advanced stats show that Coulibaly still has work to do of course. His defensive box plus-minus, a stat that measures the defensive points per 100 possessions a player contributes compared to league average, is still minus-0.5.
His shot remains a work in progress as well. Coulibaly has shot an underwhelming 44.2% from the field but has displayed solid accuracy from 3-point range at 35.7% on 2.8 attempts per game, suggesting he could become a reliable shotmaker from distance in the future. On corner threes, Coulibaly’s accuracy increases substantially to 40.8% and corner shots comprise 46.1% of his 3-point diet, per Basketball Reference.
And while Coulibaly has appeared in 56 of Washington’s 58 games, the coaching staff has only selected him to start in eight, leaving a lot of room for his role to grow. Despite his current limitations, Coulibaly has taken over games in spurts. Well, taken over may be an exaggeration. But in a road game against the Celtics on Feb. 9, the kid from the Parisian suburbs displayed the exact traits that led the Wizards to draft him in the mid-lottery.
In the TD Garden against the East-leading Celtics, Coulibaly went 4-12 from distance and made all of his five free throws for a career-high 21 points. Toss on eight rebounds, three assists and two steals for seasoning and you have a well-rounded game on both ends of the floor.
Crucially in this game, Coulibaly flashed offensive creation that makes him more than just a catch-and-shoot or spot-up threat. He has strong enough ball-handling and smooth athleticism that make him a competent driver in space, able to kick out for teammates, like here:
In this sequence, fellow Wizards wing Corey Kispert screens the Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis, opening a wider lane for Coulibaly to drive into and he takes advantage, noticing Porzingis’ flat-footedness. Porzingis’ height eventually allows him to put an arm up and prevent Coulibaly from taking a layup, but the latter’s drive has tilted the Celtics’ defense towards the rim and distracted Al Horford from his assignment on Deni Avdija, providing Coulibaly with an outlet, and Avdija drains the three.
Coulibaly can drive with muscle, too:
On this possession, Coulibaly sinks his left hip and pushes his shoulder into Jayson Tatum — a much more stout defender now than when he entered the league — taking powerful steps forward to create space and pass out to a wide-open Kyle Kuzma for the easy triple.
If these drives become a regular part of Coulibaly’s game, he’d be the kind of high-caliber third option who glues an offense together and takes pressure off of his team’s top scorers.
But it’s the All-Defensive Team potential that should really have Wizards fans feeling the magic. For a wing, Coulibaly is already a top-tier shot blocker. Against shifty guards and score-first forwards, the combination of his agility and wingspan always leave him with a chance of getting his fingers to the ball.
Against the Knicks during the In-Season Tournament, New York center Isaiah Hartenstein attempts to screen Coulibaly to create space for All-Star Jalen Brunson to operate. Hartenstein sets a decent screen, but even with his back to the center’s chest, Coulibaly manages to step out of it as Brunson passes him, trailing the point guard closely. Brunson does a stutter-step and goes all the way to paint with Coulibaly behind him, thinking he’s in the clear, but Coulibaly stays tight the whole way through and puts his whole right hand on the ball for the block. Nobody’s safe when Coulibaly is around.
As of now, it’s hard to imagine Coulibaly becoming a bonafide, All-Star scorer. But if the Wizards can escape from the NBA’s hellish floor and manage to construct a competent roster, Coulibaly is the exact kind of player who can separate mere playoff teams from true contenders.
Dare I say it, Coulibaly has a bit of a Draymond Green vibe about him (and I mean that purely as a basketball comparison, not in a “he might punch his teammates” way). In the Warriors’ heyday, Green was never a go-to scorer, but he hit the shots his team needed him to and his switchability and defensive IQ defined the team’s backcourt presence.
If Coulibaly can become even 60% of Green at his peak, Washington will have nailed the pick and we may finally see quality pro basketball in the DMV again.