The Case for (and Against) Alex Sarr to Go No. 1 in the 2024 NBA Draft (2024)

With less than two weeks to go until the 2024 NBA draft, there’s still no clarity on who will be selected first. League sources say that the Atlanta Hawks have had discussions with other teams about moving down from the first pick. But the Hawks reportedly haven’t even worked out all of their candidates for the no. 1 pick yet either, so they’re just exploring their options.

If the Hawks trade down, UConn center Donovan Clingan could be their target after he impressed the team in a private workout last week. Even if the Hawks stay put, Clingan could still be their first choice, with G League Ignite forward Matas Buzelis being a dark horse candidate. But for the second consecutive year, the most likely first selection will be a Frenchman. Last year, it was a generational talent in Victor Wembanyama. This year, the choice isn’t a no-brainer.

Zaccharie Risacher, a 6-foot-9 forward with 3-and-D potential, and Alex Sarr, a 7-foot power forward whose calling card is his defense, are the two French prospects at the top of most draft boards. Neither of them are first on my ranking, although Sarr spent time in that spot earlier this season.

Risacher worked out for the Hawks this week, but Sarr hasn’t yet. Sarr did have a workout with the Washington Wizards, who have the second pick. With so much uncertainty around Trae Young’s and Dejounte Murray’s future in Atlanta, the teams drafting behind them seem to have more appeal to the agencies representing prospects. The Wizards are a clean slate with a new front office, now run by the highly respected Will Dawkins. At no. 3, the Houston Rockets are a team on the rise. And then everyone wants to play with Victor Wembanyama on the Spurs, who have the fourth pick.

Reports have indicated that the Spurs have had talks with Atlanta about moving up, and the expectation around the NBA is that they’d select Risacher. But if another team moves up or if the Hawks stay put, Sarr is in the mix at no. 1. It appears that either he or Risacher will go second to the Wizards.

In an uncertain draft, each of the four players (Clingan, Buzelis, Risacher, and Sarr) represent something different. Clingan is more of the sure thing, a massive center who at a minimum can protect the rim, score inside, and do all the dirty work of a big man. As a big wing with positional versatility, Risacher similarly represents a high-floor player, and if his ballhandling improves over time, that would be the cherry on top. Same goes for Buzelis, who needs to prove that he can stroke 3s but provides shot creation and defensive versatility with his 6-foot-9 frame.

As for Sarr, he’s the true upside swing in this class. Because of that yet-untapped but fascinating potential, he’s our focus for today. I’ve interviewed Sarr twice over the past year. Once last September when his team, the Perth Wildcats of the NBL in Australia, faced off against the G League Ignite. And the second time came last month in Santa Barbara, California, where he’s spent most of the predraft period at P3, a performance training facility.

You can listen to my interviews with Sarr on The Ringer’s NBA Draft Show or watch them on The Ringer’s NBA YouTube page. Below are my in-depth thoughts on Sarr’s talent, potential, and best fits in the draft.

Sarr’s Calling Card: His Defense

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Sarr could become a rare five-position defender, capable of defending most centers and guards and players of all different sizes and skills. The 7-footer also has a 7-foot-4 wingspan and the agility of a wing. So he has the length to be an impactful rim protector and the quickness to thrive in a switch-heavy scheme.

“I like to switch a lot on the perimeter,” Sarr says. “It allows me to play in space.”

Perth was comfortable letting Sarr defend speedier ball handlers all season, and he was good at staying in front of opponents and using his length to bother shooters. At the next level, his NBA team will probably ask him to play similarly. After all, this is what he’s done at every level he’s played, whether it was for the French junior national team, the YNG Dreamerz of the Overtime Elite, or the Perth Wildcats.

Sarr played only 17.2 minutes per game off Perth’s bench last season, in part because he hasn’t yet ironed out some of the wrinkles in his game. He says he likes to operate in space on defense because that’s where he’s at his best. He isn’t an especially aggressive defensive rebounder, and he’s not an imposing interior defender. He weighs 224 pounds and doesn’t have a wide enough frame to handle the strongest post players. This season in the NBL, former NBA center Aron Baynes completely bodied him on some plays, burying him underneath the rim. Ideally, Sarr would be paired with a beefier center who can handle post players.

“I think I could be able to guard these types of players without getting 260 pounds. But I want to keep my frame because I think that’s what makes me fast and athletic,” says Sarr. “In a few years just gaining strength, I think I’ll be able to handle this and just be able to put these guys in a bad spot for a shot just because of my length. Maybe they’ll be stronger, but I think I have other tools to counter that.”

But positioning is still an issue for Sarr at times, too. When he’s hedging or blitzing in pick-and-rolls, sometimes he gets caught in no-man’s-land, unsure of where to rotate after recovering. Other times, he’ll unnecessarily overhelp on shooters who are already covered, then leave someone else open. There’s no doubt that Sarr hustles, but sometimes it’s as if his awareness is lagging behind and he’s going through the motions instead of reading the play.

Opponents don’t hesitate to drive at him because he isn’t an elite vertical athlete who alters every shot around the rim. Sometimes he’ll backpedal in drop coverage defending pick-and-rolls but do little to deter the driver or the roller. Sarr showed flashes in this coverage, but he isn’t yet a high-level deterrent.

“Before, I was committing too early to the ball and making mistakes, not playing two really well, not really stunting at the ball and recovering,” Sarr says. “I think that’s something I improved on.”

Sarr’s youth must also be considered. He just turned 19 in April, and it wasn’t until his second year with Overtime Elite that he really began tapping into his overall defensive upside, as both his body and mindset changed.

“Before I was more trying to block shots, but I didn’t know really how to guard or if I could guard,” Sarr says. “But I think my second year with OTE is when I realized with my wingspan, my length, and the way I can move on the court, I can be really impactful.”

Even if Sarr isn’t a perfect defensive prospect, he’s still a great one because there is inherent value in a player who is serviceable in so many different schemes. He can be asked to protect the rim. He can be asked to hedge and recover. He can be asked to switch. He can rotate over with help. He can lock up opposing scorers.

Sarr won’t contend for Defensive Player of the Year as a rookie like Wembanyama did, or even for a spot on an All-Defensive team. But he could someday. Because Sarr’s level of versatility is vital. Just look at the NBA Finals. The Celtics switch heavily to neutralize lob threats from the Mavericks, and it’s helping them win a championship. The deeper into the playoffs things get, being able to swap assignments is sometimes the best defense a team can play. Someday, Sarr could play a pivotal role for a team on that big stage, too.

“Defense is something I take pride in,” Sarr says. “I want to be the best defensive player that I can be.”

Sarr’s Offense Remains a Work in Progress

Sarr is at his best scoring off the creation of others. While he isn’t a leaper on the level of Mavericks centers Dereck Lively or Daniel Gafford, he can thrive as a screener who rolls hard to the basket and scores above the rim when he has space to launch. And off the ball, he’s always looking for opportunities to cut or sprint ahead in transition.

Playing in Atlanta with Young (and/or Murray) would probably be ideal since he could be spoon-fed more easy buckets than he’s ever received at any level of basketball. This will be important for him since other areas of his offense are still in development.

Synergy Sports data says that Sarr made only 46 percent of his layups in the half court with Perth this season, which is an underwhelming number for his size. He doesn’t sky over defenders, and he tends to avoid physicality. It’s an aspect of Sarr’s game that he’s set out to improve in recent years after spending years on the perimeter.

“I was more of a wing,” Sarr says of his upbringing playing basketball. “I used to play with the older guys, so I wasn’t the tallest. I was more like just 2 or 3.”

One of the older guys that Sarr played with was his brother, Olivier Sarr, who has spent the past three years with the Oklahoma City Thunder. As a 7-footer himself, Olivier plays a similar perimeter-oriented game. But Alex has been encouraged to play more like a big.

At Overtime Elite, coaches pushed him to attack the basket more often instead of settling for fadeaways. “Dude, no one’s blocking your shot,” Damien Wilkins, OTE’s head of basketball operations, would tell Sarr. As weeks and months passed, Sarr began attacking the basket a lot more and finishing with more authority. Still, more growth still needs to happen, as he remains most comfortable away from the rim.

Sarr can face up and attack from the elbow area. He can also operate out of dribble handoffs, then make a read. And if he’s standing behind the line, he can also attack closeouts to get into the paint for buckets. The open floor is ultimately where Sarr could thrive the most since he can turn defensive stops into points by bringing the ball up himself on the break.

“The way Giannis [Antetokounmpo] pushes the ball in transition, that’s a specific move that I think is really impressive,” Sarr says. “We work on that a lot as far as using your body, bumping, being able to relocate and finish at the rim. It is impressive just going that fast to being able to control your body and still finish strong.”

Sarr isn’t quite the athletic Freak that Giannis Antetokounmpo has become, but it’s encouraging that he sees Antetokounmpo’s transition ability as a model for his own development. Even if some of his attempts end up as layups, runners, and hooks instead of poster dunks, it’s a positive that he can turn defensive stops into points on offense.

Sarr also has creation skills as a playmaker. He can motor the ball up the floor himself to find an open teammate or throw full-court kickaheads to reward hustling teammates. Even after offensive rebounds, he’s very good at identifying the open man and delivering the ball instead of forcing contested hooks, like some rebounders do.

In the half court, Sarr is capable of highlight-reel deliveries, firing the ball across the court to shooters, and when he receives post touches, he is very good at locating cutters. Sarr’s knack for making risky passes was more apparent within the freedom of OTE, whereas this past season for Perth, coaches really worked with him on his short-roll playmaking.

Now, if a help defender comes over, he knows that he has an open shooter on the strong side. Or if the big man is slow to recover, he knows that he can apply pressure, draw attention, and open up a chance for a cutter.

Sarr isn’t a savant passer like Nikola Jokic. He’s more of a connector, so he could thrive in a two-man game running pick-and-rolls and handoffs. But to maximize his self-creation value, he’ll need to improve as a shooter.

“It’s really important,” Sarr says. “Nowadays, you got to be able to space the floor. It just makes it a lot easier for just the guards if there’s not a big guy that’s rotating over the paint because there’s a threat from the 3. It just helps the game spread out.”

Sarr has seen subtle improvements year by year as a shooter from 3 and the free throw line:

Sarr’s numbers aren’t great. He wasn’t exactly ignored beyond the arc, but he wasn’t respected, either. At the next level, he will be left open, just like we’ve seen defenses do against iffy shooters all postseason. This is just the way it goes until you prove yourself. So Sarr will not get as many chances to attack closeouts off the dribble, never mind create for others, if he’s not shooting the ball.

But his progress is at least encouraging; he is improving his percentages from the line and beyond the arc each year. Plus, over the past two seasons combined, Sarr has also made 50 percent of his floaters and 56 percent of his pull-up 2s. These are good numbers. He can take face-up jumpers or dribble into tough fadeaways that require him to contort his body in midair. If it’s only a matter of time until he can figure out how to extend his touch from the midrange to 3, then Sarr has the upside to be a complete two-way player.

Current NBA Comparisons

“Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Evan Mobley.” Those are the four names Sarr gave me when I asked who he compares himself to. All four of them are long-armed, versatile defensive presences who can thrive in different schemes. So these comparisons make sense, to an extent. But offensively, Sarr has some notable differences.

Davis and Antetokounmpo are elite-level at-rim finishers. Sarr will need to improve athletically, like Giannis did in his first couple of years, to come close to that level. So the Jackson and Mobley comparisons are a bit more realistic, although JJJ has already won a Defensive Player of the Year award and Mobley has earned votes. Of the four, Mobley is the best overall comparison since he was also an offensive project entering the NBA. Mobley flashed offensive potential at USC, but he lacked a post game, needed to tighten his handle, and was an unproven shooter. He has come a long way as a shot creator but still needs to prove that he can shoot and regularly drop 30-plus more often, like he did in Cleveland’s final game of the playoffs.

My favorite comparison for Sarr? None of the names mentioned above. It’s Nic Claxton because they have similar games and measurables:

Claxton will likely earn himself more than $20 million annually as a free agent this summer. He is one of the NBA’s best switch defenders. And although his jumper hasn’t developed as hoped in the NBA, he’s become a great at-rim finisher who can pass the ball a bit, too. But Sarr’s flashes on offense give him far greater upside. The reality of the 2024 draft is that the no. 1 pick might end up being a Claxton-like player. But the possibility that this is who Sarr will end up playing like is precisely why he isn’t a lock to be the first choice on draft night.

Which NBA Team Is the Best Fit for Sarr?

“I could play in different systems,” Sarr says. “I don’t say there’s one that I would rather play in than another one.”

The truth is that Sarr can fit anywhere on defense. There isn’t a team that he can’t help. Offense is the real question, though. Between the Hawks at no. 1 and the Wizards at no. 2, I’d lean toward Atlanta as the better fit. Even if the Hawks trade Young or Murray, I’d assume that they will seek a rookie point guard to pair with Sarr, someone he can grow with over the years to come. Of course, the possibility of being paired with a veteran point guard would instantly alleviate the pressure on him. The Wizards, on the other hand, don’t have much going for them right now, and there’d be more pressure on him to be a savior.

If the Hawks were to take Clingan or Buzelis first, and if Risacher were to go second, then there’s a possibility that Sarr would fall out of the top two. Then things would get interesting. Could a team try to move up to no. 3 to take him? If the Rockets stay put, Sarr would be redundant alongside Jabari Smith, whom they took with the third pick in 2022, and either Sarr or Alperen Sengun would need to develop as a shooter. So he doesn’t work there. A trade seems possible, and the Rockets are indeed at least hearing out offers.

At no. 4, the Spurs want Wembanyama at the rim as much as possible, so they’ll probably look for a player whose shooting ability they feel more confident in. That likely isn’t Sarr. At no. 5, the Pistons badly need trustworthy shooters, too. He might not make much sense there, either.

It’s not until the sixth pick, which belongs to the Hornets, and the seventh pick, which belongs to the Blazers, that Sarr becomes a more sensible option; Charlotte can pair him with LaMelo Ball, and Portland could do the same with Scoot Henderson. The Spurs choose again with the eighth pick.

At no. 9, there’s the Grizzlies, one of my favorite fits for Sarr since he could form a super-versatile two-headed monster with JJJ. On offense, Jackson’s shooting ability unlocks this combination. Memphis has already proved to be a great developmental situation for Jackson. But the Grizzlies select ninth, meaning that they’d likely have to move way up to land Sarr.

The odds are that Sarr will get drafted first, second, or third. But no matter where he goes, his ultimate success will largely be based on whether his environment can minimize his weaknesses while accentuating his strengths. With the right development and team support, Sarr could become a cornerstone for a contender.