Bilal Coulibaly

[MemphisX]

He is basically a longer and taller version of Melton. Would be perfect next to someone like Luka or Ball. I think 10 should be his top. If he is taken in the lottery, you must have a plan on developing that pull-up game of his. Still should be a tremendous 3&D player capable of playing 1-3 depending on your roster.

[TGW]

I can see why people are high on him

I think his archetype is the Stanley Johnson-Jaylen Brown scale. Middle range is probably Isaac Okoro, guys who are long, athletic, defense-first wings whose offense is (supposedly) going to develop

Coulibaly is probably the most developed on that end of the 4 I mentioned at his age, but that doesn't guarantee a similar growth to say Jaylen Brown. I don't know if I'd take him top 10, but the potential is there.

Okoro and Stanley Johnson didn’t measure with 7’2 wingspans. Just saying.

[DOT]

I don't know if I'd take him top 10, but the potential is there.

What about at 19?

That depends on who else is taken

[babyjax13]

Rafeal Barlowe reporting that Utah has interest in Coulibaly at 9.

[Ferulci]

Despite the disappointing year in Kansas, Wiggins had 4x the offensive arsenal Coulibaly has. I get people are intrigued and his measurements are good, but he's very raw offensively. I put him in my overrated top-5 because of the hype of the last weeks. He's worse than Frank Ntilikina's offensively at the same age. Again, the size and ws promise a better median outcome but I think his a 13+ pick for a team that understands he's a project with a big margin between floor and ceiling

He's not.
Ntilikina played in my city before going to NBA so I had the chance to watch him extensively. We thought that his 3pt shooting would improve and eventually become a weapon, but other than that, 18years old Bilal is better than 18year old Frank on almost every aspect when it comes to offense. I would argue he's even better regarding the playmaking.

And to be fair, I never understand the "oh people are hyped about him, that means he's overrated" takes.
Nobody is saying he's Paul George out there, Bilal still as a very long way to go. But when you combine his physical tools with his rapid growth (he started the year on the B team and now is one of the most important players on a team that is about to face a Final Four squad (Monaco) for the French Finals, it's hard to not get excited. How is that not impressive? What else would he need to do in order to raise in your ranks?

[Hal14]

Rafeal Barlowe reporting that Utah has interest in Coulibaly at 9.

He's 9 on my big board, at the moment.

[Hal14]

FYI, over his last 22 games, Coulibaly is shooting 39% from 3. Not crazy high volume (1.8 attempts per game) but not crazy low volume either.

Prior to that, he was bouncing back and forth between the Espoirs U21 league and Metro 92's A team in the LNB league, often times playing 2 games (1 for each team) in the same day.

39% from 3 is very good for an 18 year old kid (with a 7'2" wingspan) playing in one of the top pro leagues in the world - a bunch of the games in that sample are playoff games, too.

[babyjax13]

Rafeal Barlowe reporting that Utah has interest in Coulibaly at 9.

He's 9 on my big board.

Do not know that he'd be that high on mine or not bc his games are hard for me to get access to, but I see the appeal.

[SNPA]

Rafeal Barlowe reporting that Utah has interest in Coulibaly at 9.

He's 9 on my big board, at the moment.

I look at it like this…outside of guys you see as a clear first option, ATG passer or defensive monster center what other traits can a player bring that offers more upside than this kid?

His length is a problem teams for 15 years will be trying to game plan against.

[Capn'O]

Thing is - unlike the NCAA where most prospects you'd take are one of the main guys on their team, we're seeing him in a role that likely represents where he'll be in his early career and he's excelling in it and showing he's capable of more. This at 18 going on 19. So we know there's a high floor and then there's the evidence we see from U21 where he pretty much wrecked everyone. IMO, he's an easy guy to "reach" on based on what we're seeing now.

Young guys that produce overseas are a good bet. See Porzingis, Sengun, Doncic, etc. It means a pro coach has determined that they help in a pro setting right now. I've heard a lot of "project" talk with him and I think it's misguided. To be a star, yes. But he's ready to play.

[jazzfan1971]

I'm seeing a lot of buzz on this guy. Not sure where it is coming from.

[clyde21]

I'm seeing a lot of buzz on this guy. Not sure where it is coming from.

he's been a key piece on a team that's in the Finals right now and only 18 yrs old, is also very athletic and toolsy at a premium position

[Capn'O]

I'm seeing a lot of buzz on this guy. Not sure where it is coming from.

he's been a key piece on a team that's in the Finals right now and only 18 yrs old, is also very athletic and toolsy at a premium position

that about covers it. Also playing very solid defense at a pro level and isn't trying to play outside of his lane.

[BlazersBroncos]

Ya, he is Top-10 for me. Was in on him at 23 for PDX back when he was mocked in the SR.

I see an outside chance he is Mikal like if the stars align, health is consistent and the work ethic is there. If not he might 'only' be a high caliber 3/D type (In the mold of, say, KCP).

[EvanZ]

FYI, over his last 22 games, Coulibaly is shooting 39% from 3. Not crazy high volume (1.8 attempts per game) but not crazy low volume either.

So he's taken 40 3s? Are people seriously reading much into this?

[Big J]

Wemby says this dude should be a top 5 pick. I'm gonna trust the Yammer on this one. Kid looks like the real deal.

[vincecarter4pres]

I just watched like 20 minutes of highlights and I’m sold lol. I’m not even kidding though.

[big-shot-ROB]

Thing is - unlike the NCAA where most prospects you'd take are one of the main guys on their team, we're seeing him in a role that likely represents where he'll be in his early career and he's excelling in it and showing he's capable of more. This at 18 going on 19. So we know there's a high floor and then there's the evidence we see from U21 where he pretty much wrecked everyone. IMO, he's an easy guy to "reach" on based on what we're seeing now.

Young guys that produce overseas are a good bet. See Porzingis, Sengun, Doncic, etc. It means a pro coach has determined that they help in a pro setting right now. I've heard a lot of "project" talk with him and I think it's misguided. To be a star, yes. But he's ready to play.

Can't put produce and Porzinguis and Doncic in the same sentence. Porzinguis produced quite simar to Hezonja at ACB.

Matter fact, I think the only ACB players that produced and were drafted in the lottery were Doncic, Mirotic, Rubio, Fran Vazquez and Pau. Maybe Ibaka?

[BadaBoom]

Despite the disappointing year in Kansas, Wiggins had 4x the offensive arsenal Coulibaly has. I get people are intrigued and his measurements are good, but he's very raw offensively. I put him in my overrated top-5 because of the hype of the last weeks. He's worse than Frank Ntilikina's offensively at the same age. Again, the size and ws promise a better median outcome but I think his a 13+ pick for a team that understands he's a project with a big margin between floor and ceiling

He's not.
Ntilikina played in my city before going to NBA so I had the chance to watch him extensively. We thought that his 3pt shooting would improve and eventually become a weapon, but other than that, 18years old Bilal is better than 18year old Frank on almost every aspect when it comes to offense. I would argue he's even better regarding the playmaking.

And to be fair, I never understand the "oh people are hyped about him, that means he's overrated" takes.
Nobody is saying he's Paul George out there, Bilal still as a very long way to go. But when you combine his physical tools with his rapid growth (he started the year on the B team and now is one of the most important players on a team that is about to face a Final Four squad (Monaco) for the French Finals, it's hard to not get excited. How is that not impressive? What else would he need to do in order to raise in your ranks?

I agree. Saw Frank live a lot in his last year at Strasbourg, he was far from having the offensive tools Coulibaly has. They are not the same players at all at the same age. Frank was seen as a defensive specialist/pass first point guard, and the main hype was that he could maybe evolve in a good floor general role (but that was short lived in the new-york mess he arrived in) honest scorer, good at organizing offense and able to shut down lots of PG/SG.
Coulibaly is more of a natural offensive player who also has the tools to be very good on defense (he is stronger than Frank at the same age also). He is more at ease with ball in his hand when it's time to get a basket than Frank was.
For playmaking i would say they are even, Coulibaly didn't have extensive minutes in the French elite and playing mostly as a wing does not put him in natural creation situations that much but it's clear that he is absolutely not a tunnel vision wing and he is willing to find open teammates instead of forcing something else.

[vincecarter4pres]

Honestly wouldn’t be shocked in the slightest to see him go 4th overall. I don’t need to watch much film on him to see the natural physical tools, athleticism, frame and confidence/aggression, and a lot of this is in a serious pro league.

You can also see the feel for the game and smarts, and passion just in highlights and that’s at a very young age, so a great building block.

I don’t think he gets past Dallas at 10 if they keep the pick and good chance that’s who the team trading for 10 would be targeting if he’s still on board.