Wizards Rookie Alexandre Sarr is Embracing a Challenge

The French big man actively wanting to go to Washington is a sign of immense confidence.

Jun 26, 2024; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Alexandre Sarr arrives before the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

For a long time, Alexandre Sarr was viewed as the most likely candidate to get selected first overall in the 2024 NBA Draft. As we know, Sarr was selected second overall by the Washington Wizards -- a destination he preferred to land in, much to the initial bewilderment of the broader NBA community.

Yet, it makes sense when you think about it.

The Wizards have, for years, been a mess. I'm sorry, I don't mean to step on anyone's toes, but it's true. The organization hasn't been truly competitive since the John Wall and Bradley Beal era, and even then, they never really were a legitimate threat to go far, were they?

It's a franchise that's become an NBA afterthought, dying to return to the land of the relevant.

Sarr, it seems, was well aware of this and directed his path towards theirs to become the saving grace of a franchise that's been rotting away for years. If the 7-foot-1 center turns the franchise around, by becoming a star and leading them to playoffs year after year, he becomes immortal in the DC area, setting his second career up beautifully when he retires one day.

Of course, in order to achieve the above, he'll need to perform, and perform above expectation. The buck stops with him in a few years when he's developed, and he needs to embrace that.

Fortunately, his game oozes potential. Even if he has an army of skeptics - which is fair - it's undeniable that he, probably more than anyone else in the draft, has the highest upside.

He'll need plenty of weapons around him, including a table-setter to give him easy buckets, especially early in his career. He'll need Bilal Coulibaly to become a mainstay wing who helps him grow, and becomes a glue guy for the team.

But if those weapons arrive, and develop, and Sarr headlines an organizational resurgence for the next 10 years, he'll have cemented himself into Wizards royalty. If that is his motivation, which it very much seems to be, you have to take your hat off to him, as that is admirable. 

Whether he does succeed is a different story, which has not yet been written. But just the fact of taking on that challenge is worth a few extra games of attention from all of us.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

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