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The First Trade Of The 2023 NBA Draft Naturally Involved The Washington Wizards (Again)

The Washington Wizards have been awfully busy making trades in the lead-up to the 2023 NBA Draft, as the team sent Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns and then moved the biggest name they got back in that deal, Chris Paul, to the Golden State Warriors for Jordan Poole. The team has also been in pick accumulation mode across these moves, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the first trade at the start of the Draft involved them cashing in some picks to move up.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Indiana Pacers surprisingly selected French wing Bilal Coulibaly seventh overall. But the twist, according to Charania and Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, is that Coulibaly won’t stay with the Pacers, as the Wizards made a trade to move up one spot and take him.

The move was confirmed by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

While the exact picks remain to be seen, Charania noted that Indiana would receive a pair of second-round picks for facilitating the deal, and after the dust settled, they made up their mind on Jarace Walker, the tenacious forward out of Houston.

Coulibaly’s been an ultra-fast riser in recent weeks, and is the sort of long-term project of a player with a high ceiling who should signal a rebuild in the nation’s capital.