Wizards forward Bilal Coulibaly has been cleared to make his regular season debut, according to head coach Brian Keefe, who told reporters today that Coulibaly will be available for Thursday’s game in Oklahoma City (Twitter link via Josh Robbins of The Athletic).
The seventh overall pick of the 2023 draft, Coulibaly underwent surgery last month to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. He suffered that injury while playing for the French national team at EuroBasket 2025 and missed the entire preseason, as well as the first four games of the regular season.
Coulibaly was a full-time starter for the Wizards in 2024/25, averaging 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.3 steals in 33.0 minutes per game across 59 outings. Although his shooting percentages slipped to 42.1% from the field and 28.1% on three-point attempts, the 6’8″ wing has shown some promise as a two-way wing and just turned 21 in July.
So far this season, the Wizards have been using a starting five of Bub Carrington, CJ McCollum, Kyshawn George, Khris Middleton, and Alex Sarr, which has posted a net rating of -7.2 in 69 minutes of action. It’s unclear if Coulibaly will be reinserted into the lineup in place of one of those players or if he’ll come off the bench initially.
Coulibaly is one of six Washington players whose contract includes a rookie scale team option for 2026/27. The Wizards have until Friday’s deadline to make decisions on those, and it would come as a major surprise if they don’t pick up their $9.24MM fourth-year option on Coulibaly.
Trade Bagley, Champagnie, Vukcevic and Cooper’s two contracts with picks for a young PF starter.
Waive Middleton and McCollum
Sign a backup shot blocking C and a veteran SG/PG and a veteran SF on cheap contracts that don’t require minutes
Rebuild done
What young PF starter are you getting in a Trade for two minimum contracts?
That sounds like a whole lot of movement for a team that’s playing for a high lottery pick next summer.
Also, how many real PFs are there in the league, actually? With real PF bodies, who make power plays, and who are starters?
I was seeing things from Tidjane Salaun that I liked last year. I know he had a horrible start, played out of control and couldn’t score. But he was making some promising plays. Just like Kyshawn George. His stock was low, and I wanted the club to trade for him. It could have been a case of “get him for cheap and see what happens”. I will always take a player who is struggling with a shot but is hard to play against and can make difference-making plays over somebody like Anfernee Simons, who can only shoot jumpers and do nothing else. Because when those players find 1-2 moves to score around the basket, it makes a big difference, and when their jumper starts to fall, they immediately look like the future.
But Salaun is playing better now, I don’t think Charlotte will be looking to move him on if he continues like this.
Salaun is a good fit too. I like that. 8m I believe. That’s a good idea.
Bagley, Champagnie, Vukcevic, Branham and Cooper are not great and Washington’s other young guys can take their minutes.
Bagley, Champagnie, Vukcevic, Branham and Cooper plus a pick for Saloun. Hornets figure out the roster crunch
Tyler Smith is 6’11 and available. Washington also has the draft rights to a 6’10 170 guy named Yannick Nzosa from the Congo. He is a option.
I like the Saloun idea
Branham is not playing anyway, Cooper is a 2-way.
Vukcevic is on a 2-way too. But he has upside, he is the strongest candidate to get converted to a standard deal.
Champagnie is a very good player, actually. Excellent rebounder at his size, good defender and a shooter. He’s not playing now because of Middleton, but he’ll get his minutes later on. He could be a starter on a good team, just like his brother is in San Antonio.
Bagley is just a backup C on a minimum deal. But I think he likes to be with the Wiz, he’s trying hard, and he’s been quite all right. Had a couple of good games already. Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, but he’s not holding anyone back. Somebody has to play those backup C minutes.
The Salaun thing is not going to happen now, I think. That was the kind of deal you had to make after last season ended, when his stock was low. Could have gotten for a similar price you paid for Whitmore (two good 2nds). But he’s improving now, he’s useful for Charlotte, and they will keep him.
Looking forward to seeing him back.
Not thrilled with Cam Whitmore so far. He really looks small, the guy is 6’5 and doesn’t have long arms. He’s having a hard time catching lobs.
He plays with energy, but there’s little substance to his game.
He’s probably even 6’4.
People crucified me for saying that because they swore he’s 6’7, but he’s clearly not! Lol
6’4…. That’s good PG height. Yikes. No you way he should be playing SF then
This makes him a completely different player to me
Nah, 6’4 is too short. He’s not shorter than Bub or Tre, and those were measured at 6’4.5 and 6’4.3/4. I’d say Cam is from 6’5 to 6’5. 1/4.
But it’s not just the height. His wingspan was not measured, but reported between 6’8 and 6’10. It’s not negative, but +3″ or +5″ is not long. And he has a very broad back and shoulders, so the actual arm length from the shoulder to the tip of the finger is not long. You really notice it.
However, players with shorter arms often have good shooting mechanics. Lots of white guys, Curry, etc. So maybe he can become a good 3-pt shooting SF, and if he’s being closed, he has that explosivity to blow by and finish at the rim or get a foul.
That’s the most realistic scenario of him developing into a good NBA player. He’s definitely not a guard, and he doesn’t have the body to play PF.
I figured Whitmore would be a solid SG or PG due to his size. I think he can excel if he can find a core to play alongside.
I remember when everyone freaked out over how far he fell in the draft and claimed he was a huge steal after summer league.
To borrow a phrase, this is why they play the (real) games. He’s pretty much what I thought he would be coming out of the draft. Poor man’s 6th man would seem to be his ceiling unless something changes.