NBA Draft swap: Wizards exchange 8th overall pick Jarace Walker for Pacers’ 7th pick Bilal Coulibaly

Just as the Wizards are going through a complete roster rebuild, sending team star Bradley Beal to Phoenix and Kristaps Porzingis to Boston, they’ve also been busy swapping draft picks. Reports came in this morning confirming they are sending the newly acquired Chris Paul all the way to Golden State for Jordan Poole, and now it seems they’ve traded their 8th draft pick for the 7th with the Pacers.

This means that the Washington front office has agreed in principle to get their hands on Bilal Coulibaly, a teammate of French sensation Victor Wembanyama who is also expected for greatness in the NBA. In exchange, Indiana will recieve Jarace Walker and two second-round picks.

The Wizards now own the six-foot-seven swingman, after the Pacers recieved the French foward in their behalf. The soon-to-be 19-year-old joins a young roster that includes Poole, Landry Shamet and Tyus Jones, as they wait to figure out what will happen with Kyle Kuzma’s unrestricted free agency.

“Bilal brings energy and ability on both sides of the floor and we see his trajectory continuing to trend upward as his play catches up to his elite physical attributes,” claimed Wizards General Manager Will Dawkins.  “We feel that we improved the long-range outlook of our team tonight by adding him as a youthful, versatile and highly-skilled player.”

Earlier this month, Kevin Danna, sport broadcaster and voice of NBA’s “Wembycasts”, who commentated on over 40 Metropolitans 92 matches this past campaign, couldn’t hold his excitement when asked about Coulibaly’s potential in the league.

“He steadily just kind of raised his profile this year — just got better and better and better and better as the year went on,” Danna told the press. “When I first saw him, I’m like, oh, this guy could be a prospect down the line. I didn’t think when I first saw him, oh, this guy is going to be a first-round draft pick in a few months.”

One of the most important assets the teenager has, is his incredible athleticism, as he’s jumped his way through the French league, making outstanding dunks off of lobs or even offensive rebounds.

“For anyone who drafts him, they can’t expect this guy to play 15-20 minutes a game next year. They can expect him to play 30 minutes a game for the G League team,” Danna expressed. “I call him a half-Caboclo, like one year away from being one year away — not two years away from being two years away.

“He’s still raw, but down the line, he could be somebody for sure.”

Pacers now own two future second-round picks from this trade and 8th overall pick Jarace Walker

The Pacers, on the other hand, obtained the draft rights to 8th overall pick Jarace Walker, a 19-year-old forward that will add versatile frontcourt qualities to a young Indiana squad that is led by one-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton and veteran center Myles Turner.

“I was super excited,” Walker shared his emotions with the press. “Just to know where I’m going, just to take that deep breath. The butterflies let loose. I was definitely happy.”

His comments came after a rather confusing turn of events during the NBA Draft, as Walker revealed he already knew he was heading to Indiana before he got selected.

“I was told I was going to Indiana before Indiana’s picked,” he shared. “Then they picked (the other) dude, and I was like, ‘Wow. What happened?’ They told me what was happening after that. After that pick I kind of knew. Once that got solidified I was excited to know where I was really going.”