The Washington Wizards have done an excellent job over the last couple of seasons stacking talent.
Obviously, when you talk about the team's young players, reigning No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr immediately comes to mind, as well as his fellow rookie classmates Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George.
However, before Washington pulled the trigger on landing the 7-footer from France, the team rolled the dice on another French product in Bilal Coulibaly.
At the time when the Wizards selected the linky guard, many people scratched their heads as to why. Coulibaly was a raw prospect with limited experience overseas, but it wasn't clear how his game would translate to the next level.
Despite that, Washington's front office undoubtedly saw something in the young playmaker that other teams didn't. And so far, the team's gamble to take him with the No. 7 overall pick over the likes of Jarace Walker, Taylor Hendricks, Cason Wallace, Keyonte George, or even Cam Whitmore.
Fortunately for the Wizards, this Coulibaly stat only proves they made the right decision as he continues to look like a building block.
Bilal Coulibaly could be a two-way monster
Coulibaly took a leap in his second season in more ways than one. The 6-foot-8 guard averaged 12.3 points, 5 rebounds and 3.4 assists, while shooting 42.1% from the field. Not only did he look confident on offense this season, but at one point, he looked like he could be one of the team's best offensive players early in the year before his shooting struggles caused him to cool off.
And while his offense is undoubtedly still a work in progress, it's what he did on the defensive end that encouraged the team and their fanbase about what he has the potential to develop into.
The defensive-minded guard ranked in the top-16 in field goal percentage allowed as the closes defender among more than 100 players to defend at least 600 shots this season, per second spectrum.
Not only did Coulibaly make life uncomfortable for opposing players on offense, but he also proved to be a game-changer with his ability to force turnovers, averaging 1.3 steals per game and just under one block at 0.7.
If the 20-year-old can put in the work over the offseason to round out his offensive game to pair with his impressive defense, Washington truly could have a two-way monster on their side that could help them return to contention a lot sooner than expected in the future.