Washington Wizards Rookie Makes History in Debut

Bilal Coulibaly makes Washington Wizards team history, but will he see more playing time soon?

In the Washington Wizards' season-opening loss to the Indiana Pacers rookie forward Bilal Coulibaly made history by being the youngest player to ever appear in a season opener for the franchise at 19 years and 91 days old.

First NBA game for the rook. ✅#ForTheDistrict | @Bilaal_6 pic.twitter.com/95vqXyHb9y

— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) October 27, 2023

You could tell there were some nerves when he first came on for the Wizards, but this is something we should expect from a teenager debuting in the NBA.

He played 23 minutes against the Pacers coming off the bench in the middle of the first quarter.

READ MORE: Recap of Bilal Coulibaly's Debut

Most of Coulibaly's playing time came after the game was already in hand for Indiana and nine of his minutes came in the fourth quarter.

The question now is, how will his playing time look like moving forward?

"He's going to get some minutes," coach Wes Unseld Jr. said after the game. "I think we're going to progress him slowly yes we're not going to heap too much on him too soon but his minutes will vary."

The cautious approach to Coulibaly's playing time is a credit to coach Unseld for wanting to build up his confidence and not just feed him to the lions of the NBA before he is ready.

But with a team needing help defensively, how much do you want to leave possibly your best defensive player on the bench?

Even with limited playing time, he showed his defensive prowess and ended up with three blocks and four rebounds.

"I think he did a phenomenal job defensively." Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma said about his rookie teammate coming off the bench. "He had three big blocks but his rhythm was a little messed up."

Coulibaly started his NBA career off the bench but was a starter during the preseason with teammate Deni Avdija missing some time.

In the preseason starts he recorded what ended up being the league lead in steals with 11 and added three blocks, which he has already matched in one regular season contest.

Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) drives to the basket as Charlotte Hornets forward P.J. Washington (25) defends in the third quarter at Capital One Arena / Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Offensively Coulibaly struggled, turning the ball over three times, and only scored once, a three-pointer in the second quarter.  

We know he is still raw offensively and needs more time to develop but this Washington offense has plenty of firepower and clearly needs help defensively.

The most impressive thing about Coulibaly is the intensity he brings and the fact the defensive side of the floor is clearly part of the game he takes the most pride in. 

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He communicates well, he is aware of where he and everyone else are on the floor, and creates chaos for opposing offenses with his long wingspan and wide frame.

It will be interesting to watch and see going forward if Coulibaly gets more playing time and if he does how that improves the Washington defense as it continues to gel.

Whether or not his playing time increases and how careful the Wizards are to bring him along there is one thing that is obvious, Bilal Coulibaly has All-NBA defense potential and on a team that may struggle on that side of the floor, he could be a huge help as this season goes along.

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