With Whispers of a promise in the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery, it makes sense for Mock Drafts to connect Bilal Coulibaly to the OKC Thunder.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have often been linked to players with draft promises, right or wrong, throughout their history. Bilal Coulibaly is the latest example of that.
The Mets92 guard is the definition of a late bloomer, seeing himself climb to different leagues and minutes share all the way up to an impactful playoff role next to Victor Wembanyama—the top pick in the 2023 draft claims that Coulibaly is a top-ten talent.
While the smoke was heaviest a week about on the Coulibaly train, Yahoo, CBS, and the Athletic, all had Bilal Coulibaly landing in Oklahoma City.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony confirmed that “an OKC Thunder decision maker” was in France to scout Bilal Coulibaly in person over the weekend. That aligns with Twitter speculation that Presti was in person for the Mets92 Finals game this week. Throughout the last month, the buzz around the draft has been that Coulibaly has earned a draft promise within the NBA Draft Lottery.
If that is the case, the OKC Thunder make sense at pick 12. Coulibaly possesses some of the best upsides in this draft, and his play style aligns with what Oklahoma City wants. Between his high-level cutting ability, defensive versatility, and feel for the game at such a young age, it is easy to see not only year-one contributions on Mark Daigneault’s squad but an extremely high ceiling in Bricktown.
A week away from the 2023 NBA Draft, the latest mocks have the OKC Thunder split between these two players. Who should the Thunder select? Let us know on Twitter!