3 2023 lottery picks Raptors’ Gradey Dick will be better than

1. Bilal Coulibaly, Washington Wizards

After fan speculation that suggested Coulibaly was going to be targeted by a team like Toronto ran wild, the Wizards made sure that Masai Ujiri never got a sniff at Victor Wembanyama’s promising teammate. Coulibaly, who rarely got tons of playing time in France, is a raw player who needs a lot of seasoning.

While Coulibaly has tremendous length and athletic ability in addition to a defensive intuition, he is as raw as sashimi on the offensive end. Even on a Wizards team that is tanking and eyeing the future, he might find it very difficult to get consistent time on the floor.

Gradey Dick will score more than Bilal Coulibaly.

The Raptors could choose to put Dick at the end of the bench, but doing so would be a laughable move. Not only does he have all the traits needed to score in the NBA, but he can do so without demanding tons of touches or on-ball attention.

Even at Coulibaly’s peak, his offensive potential is likely going to be several notches below what a fully realized Dick could provide. Picking Coulibaly over Dick was another age-old upside vs. (relatively) finished product debate, and it could come back to haunt Washington.