The deadline for Bilal Coulibaly and the Washington Wizards to come to an agreement on a rookie-scale contract extension was today at 6 p.m. EST. That deadline has now passed, and Coulibaly will play this season out with the Wizards before entering restricted free agency next summer.
Coming off a season where he averaged 11.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists, Coulibaly was looked at as one of the staples of this young core. Unfortunately, the Wizards made a lot of decisions this offseason that may signal otherwise.
Bilal Coulibalys path to substantial minutes seems tough on this roster
As soon as the Wizards got the first pick, the whole NBA world was pretty certain they were taking AJ Dybantsa, which they did. Dybantsa will be the starting small forward this season and instantly becomes the Wizards' most important building block, both right now and in the future.
The Wizards also saw noticeable growth from forward Will Riley during his rookie season last year. From Feb. 1 until the end of the season, Riley averaged 16 points per game on 45.3% from the field. He showed a lot of on-ball creation chops and the ability to be a true microwave scorer off the bench.
Along with those two additions, the Wizards re-signed Khris Middleton to a three-year, $17.6 million deal. All of these players will eat at Coulibaly's minutes during the season, as the Wizards transition from rebuilding to trying to compete every night.
To play more consistent minutes, it's simple. Coulibaly needs to become a more effective offensive player. He's a career 31.5% shooter from distance, and a lot of those looks are wide open given how defenses guard him. With this Wizards team having spacing question marks this season as is, they may utilize Middleton and Riley more simply because they're more effective from three.
As said prior, the Wizards aren't in the game of development at the expense of winning games anymore, and Coulibaly didn't look great on offense in preseason except for one game where the shot was falling.
If a young team sees the potential in Coulibaly, who's still only 22 years old, they could easily throw him an offer sheet next offseason that the Wizards might be ok with not matching. It just seems like he's been slightly cast off from the young core, and barring some incredible offensive development, he might be destined for a change of scenery elsewhere.
Add us as a preferred source on Google