With a contract extension possible this summer, should the Washington Wizards extend Bilal Coulibaly this offseason?
The Washington Wizards have a big opportunity coming up, one that I believe that they should seriously consider taking advantage of.
Bilal Coulibaly, first pick of the rebuild under Will Dawkins back in 2023, is officially extension eligible this offseason. July 1st, the clock starts ticking.
And honestly? The case is starting to build itself.
Post All-Star break, Bilal quietly put together a really solid stretch: 14.6 points, 4.2 boards, 2.7 assists on 45/38/71 splits over 23 games. He looked comfortable and confident, and it looked like the game slowed down a bit for him. But most importantly, he finally was able to take advantage of March basketball whereas in the past he hasn’t been due to a multitude of injuries.
Let us not forget who Bilal Coulibaly was when he first entered the league. He was one of the youngest in his class, super raw coming in and early on, he was hesitant, had a loose handle, shaky jumper, and his confidence was kinda up and down.
Not anymore. Or at least Wizards fans hope.
Bilal Coulibaly said this in his exit interview “I want to be a two way player, a really good two way player, one of the best in the league.I think I have the tools for it. I am solid defensively and offensively I am still getting better. Yeah, I just want to be a really complete guard that can get buckets offensively.”
Now you’re seeing Bilal’s game expand more and it’s so exciting to see. Bilal has been aggressively attacking the rim, handle’s tighter (still room to grow, sure), but he’s getting where he wants more often. Playmaking? Way better. Quicker reads, smarter passes. Brian Keefe even trusted him to bring the ball up more this year, which he did for the majority of the season.
And the scoring isn’t just random. He’s using that athletic frame to get downhill, finish through contact, play a little bully ball. Plus, that corner three? He hit 44% from the corner this year, he’s been good there since day one, surprisingly.
Defensively is where it really hits though. He went from “good defender” to actually disruptive all while guarding the teams best perimeter player every night. More deflections, jumping passing lanes, guarding the other team’s best perimeter guy every night. That’s real value. That’s winning stuff that every deep playoff team desires in this modern day of basketball.
And in those few games next to Trae Young you saw the vision, his off-ball movement, corner spacing, and defense covering ground.
Now yeah, the big thing with Bilal has always been his availability. He hasn’t hit 65 games yet in a season. That matters and Bilal will need to prove his doubters wrong next year and at least lace up for 65 games. There’s no way around it and even the biggest Bilal supporters will tell you that.
If you look at the pattern, Deni got 4 years, $55M. Corey got 4 years, $54M. Both contract extensions were dished out in late October right before the season started. If I am a betting man, which I am to a certain degree, I would place bet that Dawkins and company aim to extend Bilal late October. To get a coveted two way player on a team friendly deal is massive in the NBA, and Bilal, with help of the superb Wizards developmental program that we have all witnessed last year, should be given every opportunity to reach his ceiling that enticed Dawkins so much in 2023 that he traded up one spot in the NBA draft to ensure he drafted him.
Because the way it’s trending, Bilal looks like a future starting 2. You lock that in now, team-friendly, and suddenly you’ve got flexibility to build the rest of the roster the right way.
So yeah... maybe it’s a gamble. But with Dawkins, Keefe, and the development system in place? It doesn’t feel like a blind bet. It feels like rolling the dice... knowing you’ve got the better hand, as a betting man once told me.