The Washington Wizards selected Alex Sarr with the No. 2 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Between Sarr and No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher, the top two picks in the 2024 draft have both been French. Sarr has taken a rather unusual path from France to the NBA, touching major basketball developmental programs on three different continents.
Sarr first signed professionally with Real Madrid in Spain and played two years in their youth system. He then came to the United States and played two more seasons with Overtime Elite. When Overtime Elite folded, he elected to leave the United States to play in Australia for the Perth Wildcats. Sarr was a reserve in Australia, and he averaged only 11.1 points per game playing for Overtime Elite, so on paper, his numbers don't exactly scream top draft pick.
That said, Sarr makes up for that with stellar physical traits. He is nearly seven feet tall, but more importantly, he comes with a 7-foot-4 wingspan. That size coupled with stellar mobility has the chance to make him an elite defensive player in the NBA, especially in a scheme that allows him to switch and cover the perimeter often. Sarr's upside will depend on his growth on offense. He has ball skills and is a high-energy player, but his jump shot has a long way to go, especially given how much he seems to favor perimeter offense. If he can develop that shot, though, and also adjust to scoring more inside, he has a very promising NBA future.
The Washington Wizards kicked off a long-overdue rebuild last offseason by trading Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis. They knew doing so would make things hard for them in the short term, and they were right as last year's group stumbled to a 15-67 record that topped only the 14-win Detroit Pistons among the NBA's worst teams. While the No. 2 pick represented a nice start, Washington's rebuild is very much still in the early stages.
The only player who could be considered a core piece at this point is last year's lottery pick Bilal Coulibaly. He averaged 8.4 points in roughly 27 minutes per game while flashing upside as a defender and athlete, but other than him, this roster remains fairly barren when it comes to players on rookie deals. That is true particularly in light of the Wizards' pre-draft move to send Deni Avdija to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Malcom Brogdon and the No. 14 pick. Kyle Kuzma would be valuable to the right team as a role player, but right now, the Wizards are very much searching for young cornerstones.
In Sarr, they have taken a home run swing on a player with all of the physical tools he will need to reach stardom. If he can find his jumper more consistently or develop as a rim-protector so that he can defend both the perimeter and interior, he is going to be a very valuable young center for a Wizards team that doesn't have much to cling to at the moment. This rebuild is still years away from producing a winner, but Sarr is a nice piece to add to that mix.
