Bilal Coulibaly entered year three with the Washington Wizards with a whole lot to prove and not a lot of time to do it.
As Washington continues to build towards the future, time is of the essence as the team looks to evaluate the roster and determine which players can contribute for the long haul.
The sophomore leaps of Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George have been the lone encouraging signs for the Wizards to start the season, which has only added an extra amount of pressure to several other young prospects on the roster.
However, there may not be a prospect with more pressure on them outside of Coulibaly.
Bilal Coulibaly is running out of time
Coulibaly was selected with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft solely because of his high ceiling and the potential of the two-way prospect he could become.
The oversized guard had defensive versatility courtesy of his size and instincts and if he was able to develop his offensive game, the idea was that he could be an elite player for the Wizards.
For a team with plenty of time to develop him, Washington seemed like the perfect fit for Coulibaly.
Nonetheless, that was three years ago and at this point, the Wizards are running out of patience when it comes to the development of the French product.
Not only has Coulibaly struggled to show consistency in the main areas he needs to improve, but he's shown underwhelming moments in the areas that were supposed to be his strengths.
At the same time, the wing has shown flashes of excellence that keeps Washington's coaching staff willing to extend the evaluation period.
Unfortunately, after suffering yet another injury, the setbacks for Coulibaly are continuing to add up and it appears that the time for him to prove to the Wizards decision-maker he belongs in the long-term plans is running out.
Washington Wizards guard/forward Bilal Coulibaly sustained a strained right oblique against the Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 2. The injury will be treated conservatively, and Coulibaly’s recovery status will be updated as appropriate.
— Wizards PR (@WizPRStats) December 4, 2025
After suffering an injury during FIBA EuroBasket play that caused the guard to miss the entire preseason and the start to the regular season, Coulibaly's now set to miss time due to an oblique injury.
Perhaps the mistake the Wizards made of moving on from emerging star Deni Avdija too soon will help prevent Coulibaly being shipped out prematurely.
Despite that, if he can't showcase improvement on the court or stay healthy long enough to prove he's making progress, at what point do the Wizards ask themselves the question that the entire fanbase is already wondering?
The question: Is it time to move on?
Only time will tell, but for now, Coulibaly's value is trending down.