Wizards' Rising Stars a landmark moment for rebuild
Today at 08:33 PM
The Washington Wizards (6-39) are having a rough season record-wise, but their player development is right where it needs to be. In fact, their young core just set a franchise record.
Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, and Bub Carrington were selected for the Rising Stars showcase on Tuesday, which is the first time the Wizards are sending three players to the event, via NBA.com. Coulibaly becomes the team’s fourth-ever two-time participant.
The second-year guard has taken a step forward this season, scoring 12.4 points on 42% shooting with 5.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists across 33.3 minutes per game going into Washington’s contest with the Toronto Raptors (14-32) on Wednesday night. Those numbers are all improvements on his rookie averages, except for the shooting clip.
Coulibaly is one of three sophomore players with 100-plus steals and 80-plus blocks since the start of last season, joining Amen Thompson and Victor Wembanyama. The French international has received numerous compliments from the league’s best players about his perimeter defense, including Luka Doncic, via Monumental Sports Network’s Bijan Todd.
While Bilal Coulibaly might struggle offensively, his defense remains a constant.
Luka Doncic testified to that postgame.
"He predicts my moves good, so that's pretty impressive. Once you're in the league 2-3 years, you get to know a lot of players…so he's gonna get better." pic.twitter.com/lnA8I9wmNo
— Bijan Todd (@bijan_todd) December 6, 2024
"He predicts my moves good, so that's pretty impressive,” the 2024 Western Conference Finals MVP said after the Wizards’ 137-101 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 5. “Once you're in the league 2-3 years, you get to know a lot of players…so he's gonna get better."
Meanwhile, Sarr won Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honors in December and had 91 combined steals and blocks going into the Raptors matchup, which is second-most among rookies. The No. 2 overall pick’s 1.6 blocks per game was tied for seventh in the league.
Finally, Carrington is the only rookie this season and third in franchise history to average at least 8 points (8.9 going into Wednesday), four rebounds (4.1), and three assists (3.8). The No. 14 overall pick’s 173 assists and 71 made three-pointers each ranked second among rookies as well. While that’s partially because he leads the class with 29.8 minutes per game, he was clearly worth acquiring in the Deni Avdija trade with the Portland Trail Blazers.
The NBA’s description of the Rising Stars showcase is below:
“Castrol Rising Stars is the annual showcase of top first- and second-year NBA players and NBA G League standouts. The annual showcase of premier young talent, featuring a mini-tournament with four teams and three games, will air live on Friday, Feb. 14 at 9 p.m. ET on TNT.”
“New for 2025, the winning Rising Stars team will feature in the All-Star Game mini-tournament on Sunday, Feb. 16, competing against the NBA All-Stars. TNT analyst and WNBA legend Candace Parker will serve as honorary GM of the Rising Stars champion, known as Team Candace.”
Washington’s rebuild will continue to be painful and challenging at times, but this silver lining shows that the organization is on the right track.
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