The Washington Wizards selected Alex Sarr with the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft last offseason.
In what many considered one of the weakest draft classes in NBA history, Washington did the best they could landing the French product after Sarr reportedly denied working out for the Atlanta Hawks who held the top pick in the draft.
Ahead of the combine, it was expected that Sarr would be the top pick in the draft after showing flashes overseas of how versatile he could be. And when Washington managed to land the big man despite not owning the No. 1 overall pick, it seemed that the Wizards made it out the best they could, even with how poor the draft class seemed to be.
However, when the Summer League came, optimism surrounding Sarr quickly turned into pessimism after the rookie put together arguably the worst performances of the offseason, which included a game where he finished scoreless after shooting 0/15 from field goal range.
Despite that, the young player put his head down, ignored the criticism and went to work during the offseason and he almost immediately looked better when he returned to action for the Wizards in the preseason. Though, that's noyt saying much considering how poorly he played in the Summer League.
Fast forward to now, while Sarr has shown improvement in many areas, there still seems to be a major concern around his game that doesn't exactly increase anyone's confidence in his development.
Sarr struggles doing "big man things"
At 7-foot, Sarr is listed as the Wizards starting center, the position he should be thriving in. However, the 19-year-old big man has seemed to struggle in the area that most centers in the league thrive in: scoring inside the paint.
The Wizards rookie is averaging 11.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists on the season, but those stats aren't the concerning part of his game. Sarr is shooting an abysmal 39.4% from field goal range, which is a team-worst field goal percentage.
Sarr is a versatile player, he shows flashes on defense and his ability to handle the ball at his size is impressive, but how can the Wizards plan to build around a player who struggles to thrive in an area that his position and metrics say he should be dominating in?
It's not exactly what Wizards' fans would hope to see from the player the front office selected No. 2 overall ahead of the likes of Stephon Castle or Reed Sheppard.
Sarr can easily improve this part of a game, but until he does, this stat alone should be worrying the front office and fans of the team moving forward.