Bilal Coulibaly 6’7” 210 lbs 7’2” wingspan 18.9 years old, Metropolitans 92 (France) 11.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.6 bpg, 52.8% fg%, 35.4 % 3%, 72.5% ft%

Overview: Bilal Coulibaly is a name almost no one knew entering this draft cycle. Now, he could be a top 10 pick based on his athletic profile, uncultivated skillset, and playing his best/showing the most in the biggest games in the French Playoffs as an 18 year old. Bilal is a tremendous athlete who showcases it in both the half court and in the open court. He must work on his rigid jumper but there are tools to mold into a two way wing in the NBA that is ever so coveted.

Strengths: Massive guard and plays like it. 7’2” wingspan Tremendous athlete in half court and in open court with highlight dunks. Knows how to cut without the ball. Attacks closeouts explosively. Defensively, he could be a monster. Blocks shots/ impacts shots on closeouts. Slides feet well and is strong as an 18 year old Hustles Excellent transition finisher 65% in transition. Demonstrating touch even if form can speed up (45.2% on unguarded catch and shoot). Upside as a playmaker. Making great reads in the biggest games. Was not supposed to have a role and now is starring in the Finals as an 18 year old. Weaknesses: Lacks wiggle/ creativity with the ball. Still raw but growing rapidly. Poor Free Throw Shooter (60%). Learning to play on the ball more but has some growing pains. No midrange game. Either shoots or rips all the way to the rim.

Strengths

• one of the younger players in the draft

• amazing vertical athlete

• being praised for defense

• played in Europe

Weaknesses

• shooting

• The LNB Pro A is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France.

• Coulibaly began 2022–23 season playing for the Metropolitans 92 under-21 team. He was promoted to the senior team after averaging 21.9 points, 2.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game in LNB Espoirs competition.

• Did not participate in the NBA pre-draft combine.

• Height: 6'8"

• Wingspan: 7'2.25"

Bio: Metropolitans 92, July 26, 2004 (18), 6’7”, 195 lb, Wing

Stats:

Strengths:

• Long freaky athlete

• Runs well off the ball

• Defensive potential with strong activity

Weaknesses:

• Shot needs work

• Untested against really high level comp

• Late bloomer

Rundown:

In an era of the NBA when long and athletic wings are flowing freely and more important than ever, a shot at a guy like Bilal might not be a terrible idea. While his offensive game is still a bit unpolished, his energetic defense could keep around the league for a while.

Shades of: Bruce Brown

Bilal Coulibaly- France (SF) Age:18.9yrs 6’7 194 (Mikal Bridges/Trey Murphy)

Coulibaly had a tough decision if he wanted to enter the 2023 draft or wait until the 2024 draft where he would have been a projected lottery pick. With his combination of length (7’2 wingspan), athleticism and overall upside a team could still take that type of shot at him. He is one of the youngest players in the draft and has elite defensive upside. His offensive game is where some questions have come up but he did showcase ability to create for himself, knock down three balls and be a good cutter and rim runner. These offensive areas do need to become more consistent parts of his game in the future though.

(27gs 18.1mpg)(5.0ppg, 3.1rb, 0.8ast, 53.2fg%, 45.2 3pt% 1.1 3pa)

Ridiculous frame, only 18 Great defender uses feet and arms greatly, hard to shoot over beats players to the spot good in iso and P and R, fights good athlete can jump off one or two euro step,gets to the rim used to European agreesivness good backdoor cutter can get to the rim easily, likes to go right below average shooter high arc but no touch, slow jumper not good in pull-up shooting dared to shoot has a lot of really bad misses not a lot of dribble moves high 18.2 TO rate needs to slow down or become a better decision maker

stocks machine

Bilal Coulibaly was the 28th player that I watched. You may have heard of him simply from watching Victor Wembanyama play (they were teammates). Now, because I am very late to watch him, I thought some of the talk that he is a Top 10 prospect on some people's respective draft boards was ludicrous. I got to his tape and he is damn good! You look at his physical tools of being 6'7" with a 7'3" wingspan, and you can certainly see that being a factor on the defensive end. Even if he didn't have the exceptional tools that he has, his defensive talent and IQ certainly make up for it. His ability to disrupt pick-and-rolls with his length and ability to scope it out was noticeable, as well as his ability to know how far to be on help defense, his close-out speed, his on-ball prowess; I am just going to let it be known that he is a terrific defender who will be a legit problem for a long time. This can also be shown in the stats, averaging nearly two steals a game and around half a block per game, as well as a 96 defensive rating (!) when he is on the floor. There is a ton of promise on the offensive end. I thought he was really good in transition and was excellent as a cutter. He has a euro-step that is so reminiscent of Mikal Bridges' euro, in that it is so hard to guard because of the length, but it is also the athleticism that Coulibaly attacks with. I also thought he looked promising as a pull-up shooter, particularly in the mid-range, which is an aspect I will always like. His three-point shooting is not "exceptional" and needs more reps from a spot-up and catch-and-shoot perspective in order to have this translate into NBA level play. He projects to be more of a second option, and I think that he is better suited to be a Robin or an Alfred from a scoring perspective. I do not like his playmaking for others; it does not feel like he did that often and while he never really had too many plays initiated by him, I think that he could have been better there, especially with him averaging more turnovers (1.6) than assists (1.4). He bounced from youth team to competitive team throughout this year, which fluctuated his stats in a lot of ways. In combination with both of those teams, he showed an ability to adapt to different roles and play at high levels in those roles, but there was certainly a gap in what we were able to see out of him to give a consensus set grade, and I think that is where there is a legit divide with him. I think Bilal Coulibaly has the defensive acumen, length and offensive flashes to be worth a pick in the first round, but he is certainly this year's mystery prospect, in terms of where he could get selected and how you decide to evaluate him.

• Player Comparison: Shades of Mikal Bridges and Victor Oladipo

• Projected Draft Position: Late Lottery/Early 2nd Round

• Best Fits: Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors, Portland Trail Blazers