Hopes were high when the Washington Wizards selected French big man Alex Sarr with the No. 2 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. But so far in Summer League, he’s making them look silly for passing on the best player in the draft.
Through his first few games of Summer League, Sarr has been pretty disastrous. His defense and rebounding have looked promising, but so far, Sarr looks like a complete negative on the offensive end of the floor.
In four games with the Wizards Summer League roster, Sarr is averaging 5.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting an abysmal 9-of-47 (19.1%) from the field and 2-of-7 (11.8%) from beyond the three-point arc.
Wizards made huge mistake selecting Alex Sarr over Reed Sheppard
Sarr was never going to enter the league as an elite offensive player, but he wasn’t expected to be this rough. Obviously, this is just Summer League, but if Sarr is performing like this against lower-tier competition, facing stud defensive players in the NBA could make life very difficult for the rookie.
Bub Carrington has been leading the way for Washington in Summer League, leaving some hope that he can set up Sarr more during the year, but it’s still been a tough outcome to watch for the second-overall pick.
To make matters worse, the Wizards passed on the best player in the draft, as Reed Sheppard went to the Houston Rockets at pick No. 3.
Obviously, saying Sheppard is the best player is very premature and completely subjective, but from everything he’s shown in Summer League, combined with the fact that he plays both sides of the ball and is an absolutely elite three-point shooter, it’s a fair opinion.
Through his first three Summer League games with the Rockets, Sheppard has averaged 20.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 3.0 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 49.0% from the floor and 38.5% from beyond the three-point arc.
Plus, Sheppard is elite on and off the ball, meaning he could have been an amazing fit next to Carrington, giving the Wizards their backcourt of the future to play next to Bilal Coulibaly.
Instead, the Wizards took Sarr, and right now (even though it’s early), it looks like the wrong choice.