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Heading into the 2022-23 NBA campaign, plenty of folks viewed the Washington Wizards as a legitimate threat to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. After all, the Wizards had a star-studded duo of Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis with a solid collection of complementary players around them, such as Kyle Kuzma, Deni Avdija, Corey Kispert, and Daniel Gafford, just to name a few.
But fast forward to the current day, and it's clear the Wizards fell short of expectations, as their 2022-23 regular season was a disaster.
Thanks in part to Beal missing nearly half of the season due to injuries, the Wizards finished the year with a sub-par 35-47 record — the 12th-best record in the Eastern Conference — and missed out on the postseason entirely. Despite Beal's injury woes, it was clear that this Wizards roster, as currently constructed, wasn't anything more than a play-in team at best. So, the Wizards made some major moves so far this summer.
The Wizards dealt one of their best players in franchise history, Bradley Beal, to the Phoenix Suns in a three-team trade in exchange for Chris Paul (who was subsequently traded to the Golden State Warriors), Landry Shamet, and picks. And the Wizards also traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Boston Celtics in another three-team trade. They received Tyus Jones, Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala, and the 35th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft in return.
The last year or so has been rough for Wizards fans, but a great NBA Draft could have helped fans forget about the season that was. Unfortunately, though, the Wizards did not have a great draft.
The Washington Wizards had two picks in the 2023 NBA Draft and one first-rounder. Specifically, the Wizards had picks 7 and 42, which they used to select French forward Bilal Coulibaly and European big man Tristan Vukcevic. And the Wizards made a big mistake by selecting one of these players. With all of that said, let's look at one big mistake that the Washington Wizards made in the 2023 NBA Draft:
1 big mistake by Wizards in 2023 NBA Draft
Trading up to the 7th overall pick for Bilal Coulibaly
Coulibaly was one of the more hyped-up international prospects in a 2023 NBA Draft class full of overseas talent. He has a terrific physical profile for a wing at 6'7″ with a 7'3″ wingspan and projects to be a switchable and disruptive defender in the NBA. But while Coulibaly's defensive potential is sky-high, he's too raw on the offensive side of the ball for the Wizards to justify trading up to the 7th pick to select him.
Coulibaly is a non-scorer at this stage. He averaged a mere five points per game playing in France's LNB Pro A league and had difficulty creating his own shot this season against the French competition, which is sub-par compared to the NBA. Plus, his playmaking ability leaves a lot to be desired, as he averaged more turnovers (0.9) than assists in the LNB Pro A league. Coulibaly seemingly has a long way to go before he becomes even a league-average player on the offensive end of the floor.
All in all, Coulibaly's defensive potential is alluring, and he would be a good project for a playoff team in need of some defensive chops. But there were players with much higher ceilings than Coulibaly's still available on the board for the rebuilding Wizards.
