Former Raptors Star Called Overrated by Wizards Rookie

Former Toronto Raptors star Pascal Siakam was called overrated by Washington Wizards rookie Bilal Coulibaly during a recent interview

Oct 20, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) drives to the net / John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Washington Wizards rookie Bilal Coulibaly doesn’t think Pascal Siakam is quite as good as he’s made out to be.

The former Toronto Raptors star was named the most overrated player in the league by Coulibaly during a recent French-language interview with RMC Sport. Coulibaly acknowledged Siakam is quite strong, but said his offensive moves are easy to anticipate.

It’s a strange comment from Coulibaly considering Siakam had no trouble carving up the Wizards in their two matchups against Toronto this season. Siakam had a 39-point showing back in November on 15-for-23 shooting and then followed it up a month later with a 22-point performance in a 30-point victory over Washington.

Coulibaly also wasn’t the primary defender on Siakam in either of the games and spent most of his defensive possessions on Scottie Barnes. Siakam instead shot 10-for-14 when defended by Kyle Kuzma who was Siakam’s primary defender in the two contests, per NBA Stats.

For the season, Siakam is averaging 21.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game with above-average offensive efficiency. His True Shooting percentage is 21 percentage points above the league average.

Siakam is also a two-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA player who won the league’s most improved player award in 2019.

Coulibaly, conversely, averaged 8.4 points on 43.5% shooting with 1.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game for a Wizards team that had the second-worst record in the NBA this season. He was selected with the No. 8 pick in last year’s draft following two seasons on the Metropolitans 92 in France.