OKC Thunder End of Season Report Card: Olivier Sarr

The Oklahoma City Thunder season is in the rearview mirror and it is time to hand out the end of season report cards, this time for Olivier Sarr.

Dec 18, 2023; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Olivier Sarr (30) moves past Memphis Grizzlies forward Ziaire Williams (8) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder capped off a brilliant 2023-24 campaign with a 57-25 record that saw the Bricktown boys win their first playoff series since 2016. Despite falling in six games to the eventual Western Conference Champion Dallas Mavericks in the second round, the Thunder season could be described as nothing short of a success.

As the year concludes, it is time for our OKC Thunder End of the Year Report Card to cycle through every player on the roster to give them a final grade mark and project into the future. Today it's Olivier Sarr's final exam.

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Season Recap

The Oklahoma City Thunder parked Sarr with the OKC Blue for the vast majority of the 2023-24 season. At the NBA level, Sarr logged just 15 games averaging two points, two rebounds on six minutes per night.

With the OKC Blue the seven-footer was extremely impactful a walking double-double, averaging 11 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks per game. Sarr posted 1.167 points per possession as a pick-and-roll man, 1.020 points per possession on cuts and converted at the rim at a 63 percent clip.

Sarr was pivotal in the Blue's run to the G League Finals and helped Oklahoma City stake claim to their first G League championship. Though, in the decisive Game 3 the two-way center suffered an Achilles injury that projects to sideline him for the vast majority - if not the entire - 2024-25 season.

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Grade: C+ At the NBA level there weren't minutes for Sarr, though he was exceptional as a lob threat for the OKC Blue and a double-double machine who helped lead them to their first G League title in franchise history.

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What to improve on

Sarr being sidelined for a year due to an Achilles injury leaves little for him to improve on this year. Though, in general, Sarr has struggled with being out of position on defense in pursuit of blocks. While he has a highlight tape of swats, missing in that picture is the easy buckets let up by gunning for the high-impact play.

As is the case in the modern NBA, Sarr will have to continue to work on his outside shot which has been slowly coming around and is now at a point where he looks more comfortable than ever pulling the trigger but seeing it go in more on a higher volume will be key.

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