2024 NBA Draft Prospect: Alexandre Sarr

At 7'0", Alexandre Sarr will bring a lot of size, length, and defensive versatility to any team that drafts him in the 2024 NBA Draft.

2024 NBA Draft prospect: Alexandre Sarr (Perth)

Height without shoes, Weight, and Age when NBA season begins: 7’0”, 224 pounds, 19 years old

Standing reach: 9’2” | Wingspan: 7’4”

Mock average: 2nd

NBA player ranking for access to combine information: 7th - 10th (for teams drafting 1st to 25th)

Who is Sarr?

Sarr is a 7’0” 19-year old forward/center from France who played this past season with the Perth Wildcats of the NBL. Sarr mainly played the backup 5 for Perth and he came off the bench in all 30 games that he played in.

What were Sarr’s numbers on defense and what were my observations when watching film?

On defense, Sarr averaged 4.5 rebounds, 0.4 steals, 1.5 blocks, and 1.4 fouls in 18 minutes per game.

I watched film of Sarr’s games with Perth on March 11th and 13th against the Tasmania JackJumpers and while watching film, I jotted down some observations on note cards, and grouped my observations into different categories.

Rebounding

• Sarr uses his explosiveness, length and size to go up and get a defensive rebound over the opponent if he’s established position near the rim.

Perimeter Defense

• Good lateral movement up top when switched onto a wing player and he prevented the player from driving by him.

• Toward the end of a half, he blocked a mid-range shot attempt on the baseline, when he initially was standing near the paint.

• On one possession he got switched onto a guard up top, the player tried to dribble in front of him, and he stole the ball from the guard.

• When switched onto a forward, the player used a pump fake, Sarr fell for it, then the player used a step-back three. Sarr recovered from the pump fake and was able to contest the shot.

• He seems vocal when out on the floor, directing his teammates on switches and different defensive coverages.

• Moves more like a wing player rather than a traditional big.

Overall, Sarr demonstrates his versatility on the defensive end with him being able to switch onto wings and guards for some possessions.

Rim Protection

• Sarr covers a lot of space inside the paint, he often has his arms out, and not by his side to add more length.

• When dropping on the P&R, he’s able to keep some distance within the space between the ball handler and the roll man, shrinking their floor area.

• On one possession, his length at the rim impacted an alley-oop dunk attempt by the opponent.

• He altered a jump hook from a big, with the player moving the shot to get around Sarr’s arm, which led to the shot going too far to the right, for a miss.

• When a big caught the ball under the rim, Sarr put both hands up high and he blocked the layup attempt with contact by the big.

• When his teammate got burned on a drive, Sarr was there with a help block and swatted the ball into the stands.

• When a forward tried to drive by him from up top, Sarr stayed with the player and then blocked the player trying to put up a layup several feet from the basket. Not only was the player not able to drive past Sarr, but he had to settle for a layup faraway, and Sarr still blocked the attempt.

• Sarr switched on a P&R, then blocked a layup attempt.

• A big tried to establish position and use a jump hook against Sarr. Sarr blocked the shot, caught it, and then started his own break for his team.

As you can see from the observations, defense is going to be an area of the floor where Sarr is going to have a quick impact. Whether it’s his rim protection or ability to switch onto wings and guards, defense is the area where he’s further along in his development as a player.

What were Sarr’s numbers on offense and what were my observations when watching film?

Coming off the bench, Sarr averaged 9.6 points, and 1 assist to 1 turnover.

Sarr averaged 7.1 FGA attempts (50% FG), 1.9 3PTA (27.6% Acc), and 2.7 FTA (70.7% Acc).

When we break down his shots into 2s and 3s, 73% of his shot attempts were from 2PT range, where he made 58.3% of those attempts. 37% of his shots were from 3PT range, where he made 27.6% of those attempts.

The NBL 3PT arc is set at around 22 feet, similar to an NBA corner 3PT distance, but not as far as an arc 3 in the NBA.

Like on defense, here were my observations of Sarr on offense.

Rolling and Popping on the Pick-and-Roll

• After catching the ball on the roll, Sarr found a cutter and fed him the ball near the rim.

• After catching the ball on the roll, Sarr showed his court vision by quickly scanning the floor and finding an open corner weakside 3PT shooter.

• Sarr popped on a P&R to the 3PT line, after he caught the ball, he took a dribble inside and made an open elbow mid-range jumper.

• After catching the ball in the paint on the roll with 2 defenders by his side, Sarr again found an open arc weakside 3PT shooter.

• Sarr caught the ball in the paint on the roll, he drove in and tried to put up a layup over a defender several feet from the basket, but he was called for an offensive charge foul, with the player establishing position outside the charge circle.

Passing

• When faced with full court pressure defense, Sarr struggled to get the ball inbounds and he threw the ball into traffic, where the defense stole the ball. This was partly his fault, but also his teammates, with his other teammates not coming down the court to help relieve the pressure on the ball handler.

• While holding the ball up high at the arc, one of his teammates was coming for a dribble hand-off action (DHO), but while this was happening, one of his other teammates cut to the basket and Sarr found his teammate for the open layup.

Ball Handling

• Sarr is able to push the ball up the court and then he’ll pass to the lead ball handler to set up an action.

• With the team facing some full court pressure, Sarr caught the ball baseline and helped ease the pressure by pushing the ball up the court.

• The Wildcats used Sarr in a lot of DHO actions, and he never had trouble getting the ball to the ball handler.

Off Ball

• Defenses leave Sarr open in the corner during spread sets. On one play, he cut baseline since he was open in the corner and drew a foul on a layup attempt.

• If Sarr isn’t involved in the action and it’s not a spread set, he’s usually running baseline to baseline in the dunker spot, with his defender usually near him, but also helping to protect the rim.

• Sarr is mainly used as a screener up top. There weren’t any actions where he got to operate and begin possessions. As a young player being only 18 years old while playing with some veteran players, it’s understandable that his team didn’t look to him as an initial initiator or creator.

• On a possession Sarr ran into the paint from the dunker spot and his teammate drew in 2 defenders, saw Sarr open, and delivered him a pocket pass a few feet from the rim. Sarr dove in and finished a layup for an and-1 opportunity.

Open Court

• Ran the break well on a possession, finished a layup on a 3-2 on fast break. The smaller player guarding the rim had no chance of stopping Sarr’s layup.

Shooting

• Sarr has solid form on his free throw and jump shot.

• Often when putting up shots in the paint, he went to the right handed jump hook or floater shot. He went to that shot when faced with contact by the opponent or when 2-3 defenders were in front of him.

• On one possession, he popped out for an open 3PT shot up top, then took and missed the spot-up 3PT shot.

Creation

• On one play, he caught the ball up top, faked a DHO, drove in with his left hand and finished with a right handed hook.

• When he would get position in the post against his defender, his teammates wouldn’t throw the ball to him. This could be his teammates not having trust in a young player, not part of their regular offense, or maybe he’s struggled in the post in prior matchups.

• He caught the ball up top, a defender tried to gamble for a steal against him, and Sarr found a wide open 3PT shooter on the arc.

Overall, Sarr is still very raw on the offensive end of the floor, and beginning his NBA career when he’s just 19 years old, teams will have the opportunity to help him mold his skill set on the offensive end of the floor.

What do some of the draft experts say about him?

Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer: On-Ball defense, shot blocking, positional versatility, hustle

Jeremy Woo of ESPN: Physically gifted big, offense will develop, versatile contributor who can fit at the 4 or the 5

Krysten Peek of Yahoo! Sports: Versatile center, elite rim protector, improved footwork off the block and taking players off the dribble

NBA Draft Room: Potential to become a game-changing player and has a chance to be really good

What are his player comps?

My comp: Jonathan Isaac on defense - As I watched him on offense, I couldn’t really think of an NBA player who he reminded me of, because his skill set is still developing and his team didn’t really allow him to do much on that end of the floor, aside from setting screens and being involved in DHO actions.

Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer: Jaren Jackson Jr., Jonathan Isaac

NBADraftRoom.com: Evan Mobley

How would Sarr fit with the Spurs?