Wizards sign No. 7 overall pick to rookie deal

The Wizards have officially signed first-round pick Bilal Coulibaly to his rookie scale contract, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

Coulibaly, who wasn’t originally projected to be a lottery pick in the 2023 draft, saw his stock rise over the course of the 2022-23 season as he submitted a strong performance alongside Victor Wembanyama for Metropolitans 92 in his home country of France.

Coulibaly put up modest numbers in 27 games in the French LNB Pro A league, including 5.0 points and 3.1 rebounds in 18.1 minutes per contest. However, he showed intriguing upside as a shooter (.452 3PT%) and defender, and he’s still just 18 years old (19 later this month).

The Wizards ended up sending two future second-round picks to the Pacers in order to trade up to No. 7 to snag Coulibaly. That means, as our breakdown of this year’s rookie scale salaries shows, he’ll be in line for a first-year salary of $6.6M and a four-year deal worth $30M.