The 2024 NBA Draft is now less than a week away and the Atlanta Hawks still haven’t managed to bring Perth center Alexandre Sarr in for a private workout.
With the No. 1 pick in the draft, the Hawks would certainly like to. Doing their due diligence, the Hawks have checked out lottery prospects like Zaccharie Risacher, Donovan Clingan, and Cody Williams. However, Sarr was considered the top prospect in the draft throughout most of 2024. This was right up until the Hawks were said to have interest in Risacher.
To that point, if the Hawks have only worked out one of the two, they probably aren’t absolutely sure Risacher is the best option. Indeed, the probability of a player being drafted isn’t just about their talent, skill set, or potential. The betting odds often shift based on media reports. The real odds can be affected by whether a prospect even wants to play for the team that’s interested in him. In this case, it may be both.
Alexandre Sarr’s Agent Doesn’t Want Him to Play for Hawks
“Every NBA agency does things differently,” Yahoo Sports insider Jake Fischer says, prefacing what would be a bombshell revelation.
“Like, right now, there’s word that Atlanta is not a situation that WME wants Alex Sarr -the top prospect out of Perth, Australia… -they don’t want him to be a member of the Hawks, which could cost him like $9 million in theory over the course of four years. But it’s all about that second contract. All about fit…”
What Is WME?
WME is a global agency based out of Beverly Hills, CA. While representing the likes of Serena and Venus Williams, basketball stars like Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic, and Chet Holmgren have found homes with WME as well. If this is the agency that doesn’t want Sarr playing for the Hawks, they have a sound reason.
As Fischer alludes to, this is likely about his fit in Atlanta, which will have a significant bearing on his second contract. To that point, while $9 million is a lot of money to lose, the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreements have provided players with an incentive to remain with the team that drafted them by increasing the amount of money they can earn on their rookie scale contract extension. Now, players are able to sign a five-year contract extension worth 25 percent of the salary cap. As the league revenue also continues to increase, this presents rising stars with a lucrative opportunity.
If drafted by the Hawks, Sarr may not have that chance. For one, Atlanta already has two starting-caliber centers in Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu. Secondly, after only recently signing those players to long-term deals, they’re already looking to move at least one of them. Lastly, Capela and Onyeka are not the only moving parts. The Hawks are seemingly willing to trade any player on the roster, including face of the franchise Trae Young. Indeed, even the No. 1 pick is a trade chip, though Hawks general manager Landry Fields says they’ll keep the pick.
Though there may be an opportunity for Sarr to emerge as a key or top player in Atlanta, the chaotic state of the franchise speaks to a potential for disaster.
Who’ll Draft Alex Sarr Instead?
There are four other lottery teams whose roster is more stable or at least have a clear need for a center: the Washington Wizards, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Sacramento Kings.
Only one of those teams (the Wizards) have a top-five selection in the NBA draft. In Washington, Sarr will also have a fellow Frenchman on the roster, with the Wizards drafting former Metropolitans 92 wing Bilal Coulibaly with the seventh overall pick in 2023 NBA Draft. This may seem irrelevant. However, in transitioning to the NBA and living in America full-time, having a player he can relate to off the court is invaluable.
On the court, Sarr’s a fit due to the team’s defensive needs and status as a rebuilding team. What’s more, Washington could use a star-caliber center. The closest the Wizards have come to that this millenium is Marcin Gortat. That being said, Sarr isn’t guaranteed to be the face of the franchise due to Kyle Kuzma‘s offensive growth. Nonetheless, there’s little reason to doubt that he’ll be one of their top players.
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