Wizards aim to leverage Trae Young trade to enhance Alex Sarr’s potential.
BY THE TIME the large container of ketchup and In-N-Out special sauce was placed on the table outside the Washington Wizards’ locker room on Jan. 14, it was torn and disintegrating.
A substantial group order of burgers and fries must have warranted such an extensive supply of condiments. On this occasion, only one player for the Wizards had the motivation or desire to make such a significant order.
This player was the anticipated future leader of the franchise, second-year center Alex Sarr, who aimed to surprise and treat his teammates to the renowned Southern California restaurant chain, which lacks any outlets in Washington D.C. However, there was one complication: He had been ejected from the game in the second quarter for expressing frustration by spiking the ball above his head after a foul call. This ejection was, to put it mildly, questionable, as it was more of a bounce than a spike. Regardless, it left his team at a disadvantage for the remainder of the game against the LA Clippers.
While he observed the rest of the game from the locker room, Sarr coordinated his plan with a Wizards staff member. The surprise treat had transformed into a form of atonement.
The gesture was well-received. By the time the Wizards opened their locker room to the media, only five burgers remained.
Sarr did not share his act of kindness on social media, nor did the Wizards. Within the organization, there is already a consensus that Sarr possesses the character and talent to become the cornerstone of the franchise following what has been one of the most challenging rebuilds in the modern NBA.
That is, if the recently acquired Trae Young can assist Sarr in developing as the Wizards anticipate he will.
“Trae understands that the team doesn’t need a savior,” Wizards general manager Will Dawkins told ESPN.
History suggests otherwise. The Wizards are the only NBA franchise without a 50-win season since the introduction of the 3-point line in 1979-80. They are also the only franchise without an All-Star representative in any of the past four seasons, and it is unlikely that this will change when All-Star reserves are announced on Sunday.
Enter Young, a four-time All-Star who has averaged over 25 points and 10 assists in the past three seasons, a feat no Washington player has achieved in a single season. However, the Wizards do not view him as their franchise player, following a lineage of star guards from John Wall — who will have his jersey retired Thursday night — to Gilbert Arenas to Rod Strickland, and even back to Earl “The Pearl” Monroe.
“He’s coming in to be a piece,” Dawkins stated regarding Young.
Instead, Washington’s strategy is to have the former Hawks star aid in the development of the 7-foot Sarr, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft, into the player the franchise believes it can build around for the next decade.
“You see a lot of the potential that he has in his game,” Young remarked. “He’s very intelligent, especially on the defensive end. Being smart and athletic with that kind of size is quite rare in the league. He was the No. 2 pick for a reason — he possesses a lot of talent and potential, and I want to be part of the process to help bring it out.”
YOUNG HASN’T SAID or done much since the Wizards acquired him in a trade from the Atlanta Hawks. He is still recovering from injuries to his knee and quadriceps sustained earlier this season, which will keep him sidelined at least through the All-Star break.
The Wizards, of course, have additional reasons to be cautious regarding Young’s health: They only retain their first-round pick this season if it falls within the top eight. If it falls outside the top eight, it will go to the New York Knicks (originally sent to the Houston Rockets as part of a trade to acquire Russell Westbrook, eventually landing in New York through a series of other transactions).
For now, Young has primarily been an observer, acclimating to this new reality. The Hawks opted to take their next step as a franchise with 24-year-old swingman Jalen Johnson as their leader after giving Young five opportunities to build on his 2021 Eastern Conference finals appearance.
Afterward, he confessed to Andscape’s Marc J. Spears that he felt emotional driving to the arena in Atlanta for the last time and was disappointed with how his time with the Hawks concluded.
However, so far, Young appears to be embracing this chance for a career reset in Washington.
“As a kid, you dream about that type of title,” Young told ESPN when asked about not being designated as the face of the franchise in Washington. “But when you’re here [in the NBA] and you’re part of it, you’re part of winning, you realize that those things don’t really matter. I’m not a finished product. I know many people may perceive me as such. But you’ve only seen me in Atlanta. You’ve never seen me anywhere else. So I don’t want to delve into too many narratives and what people say, but it will all change when I start winning games here.”
Young holds a player option for $49 million for next season, and both parties are open to an extension, sources informed ESPN. However, there is also the possibility that Young simply exercises his player option and uses next season as a period of evaluation with the Wizards as well.
“I came into a somewhat similar situation as I did when I was a rookie, but I’m 27 now,” he stated. “I’m more mature now. It may appear and make me feel older because I’ve been around for a while, but I’m not. I’m young enough to relate, but old enough to have enough experience. So I’m excited to be around some of these young guys.”
Especially Sarr, who recently became the fourth player in NBA history to achieve 150 blocks and 125 made 3-pointers through his first 100 career games, joining Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, and Kristaps Porzingis.
“If you were to compare him to some of the other centers in the East, just cover up the face and the name, I think analytically he stands out,” Dawkins remarked.
Similar to his French compatriots, Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, Sarr is a formidable presence defending the rim. According to Genius IQ, Sarr leads the NBA in contested shots in the paint and restricted area, as well as blocks per game, although Wembanyama has not played enough games this season to qualify for per game leaderboards.
What the Wizards appreciate, however, is not only his rim protection but also Sarr’s capability to defend all five positions. Coach Brian Keefe often highlights a play from a Jan. 11 game in Phoenix when Sarr was defending Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker on the perimeter.
Initially, it seemed Booker had a step on Sarr. However, Sarr moved his feet, blocked Booker’s shot from the side, regained control, initiated a fast break, and found a sprinting Bilal Coulibaly with a crosscourt one-hop bounce pass for a dunk.
“That was special,” Keefe noted. “He possesses an incredibly unique skill set both offensively and defensively.”
Sarr is one of seven players to defend 500 or more on-ball screens this season while employing drop coverage at least 40% of the time and switching at least 15%. In contrast, Gobert drops 64% of the time and switches only 4%. Sarr is also one of seven players to match up defensively against centers 30 times a game, forwards for 10 times, and guards for 10 times this season.
Offensively, however, he is still developing. In two seasons, Sarr has recorded just 16 scores off lob passes and occasionally lacks the aggression or skill in the post to score inside.
The 10 pounds of muscle he added in the offseason have contributed to reducing his 3-point attempts from 5.1 per game to 2.7 this season and increasing his points in the paint from 5.8 last year to 11.1 this season.
Young will assist him in reaching the rim, as he has assisted on 580 lob dunks in his career, the highest of any player since he entered the NBA in 2018-19.
However, there remains significant room for improvement.
IN HIS VARIOUS front office roles over 15 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Dawkins was among the first to recognize Sarr’s potential. This was because Sarr was frequently present as his older brother Olivier moved between the Thunder and their G-League affiliate from 2021 to 2024.
Alex Sarr was 16 when Olivier first joined OKC and just beginning to grow into his 7-foot stature. After two years in the Real Madrid program, he came to the United States to play for Overtime Elite in Atlanta. Following two years in the States, he signed to play for the Perth Wildcats of the Australian National Basketball League in 2023-24.
“He was competing in a grown man’s league,” Dawkins said of Sarr’s transition to Australia. “I waited and went over right towards the very end of the playoffs to see him where he’d feel most comfortable. You could immediately see he would be able to be a defensive force in the NBA. But you also noticed the fluidity with which he played at that size. When we brought him in for a workout, you could see the handle and the shooting, so you knew it would come in time.”
What they did not know until they had him in a Wizards uniform was whether he possessed the temperament to be the future face of their franchise or if he was better suited as a complementary player. In many respects, they are still determining that aspect. This is why they want to observe how he performs alongside an elite point guard like Young.
“I believe he’s going to make a lot of us look great,” Sarr told ESPN when asked about Young. “He’s going to make me look good, Bilal, Kyshawn [George], Tre [Johnson]. And he’s going to enhance his own performance if we play well around him.”
Questions regarding his position in the team hierarchy were quickly dismissed.
“I feel like you don’t necessarily have to flex with people to become a face of a franchise,” Sarr stated. “It’s about showing up every day, every game, playing hard, being productive, being consistent, and winning.”
The last part is something the Wizards have struggled with recently. Their 11 wins this season are tied for the fewest in the league. They have won fewer than 20 games in each of the past two seasons and have not been above .500 since 2017-18.
One of those poor seasons helped them secure Sarr in the lottery, although it did not yield immediate results. His summer league debut, where he struggled offensively and ended with a historically poor 0-for-15 shooting night against the Portland Trail Blazers, raised concerns — though not among Wizards leadership.
“You expect, ‘Hey, we need to check in on Alex, see how he’s doing,'” Dawkins remarked. “And it was like the same person, the same level of confidence. I appreciated that. He was like, ‘I’m ready to get back to DC, and now I know what I need to work on.’
Sarr recalls receiving the call to dine with the GM and coach after that disappointing game, feeling as though he was being summoned to the principal’s office. However, after speaking with his brother and reviewing the game tape to understand why he had performed poorly, he felt fine.
“Oh, I definitely remember,” he said with a smile. “When I got invited, I was like, oh s—. It was a humorous moment where there was a lot of chatter about me. … I didn’t focus on that. I was just frustrated with not performing well during a game. But after discussing it with my circle, the people who have always supported me in my basketball journey, I realized it was just one game and that I needed to work on my game and return ready for the season.”
THOUGH THE WIZARDS have been a struggling franchise for an extended period — they have lost the most games of any team over the past four seasons — in many ways, their rebuild is just beginning. On Saturday, they fielded the youngest lineup in NBA history (with an average age of just 20.6) in a loss against the Charlotte Hornets.
One reason Washington’s path back to competitive basketball has taken so long is the convoluted aftermath of the Bradley Beal trade. Dawkins had just joined the franchise when Beal — who held a no-trade clause, thus possessing all the power in determining his destination — requested a trade.
“My first 10 days on the job were when we traded Brad,” Dawkins recalled. “It was one of those situations where you had to quickly build trust and a relationship with someone you really didn’t know well to make the best, most significant decision for him and the organization.”
The initial return for Beal appeared minimal: Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, a collection of second-round picks, and first-round pick swaps that seem unlikely to ever be utilized. However, Dawkins and Michael Winger, the Wizards’ president of basketball operations, transformed Paul into Jordan Poole in a deal with the Golden State Warriors. Last summer, Poole became the centerpiece of the package that brought CJ McCollum to Washington, and McCollum was the key player sent to Atlanta for Young, whose contract aligns with what would have been the final two years of Beal’s contract in Washington had he remained.
This represents a significant amount of deconstruction and reconstruction for one organization in a brief period.
However, on the same night Sarr was treating his teammates to a large order of In-N-Out, Beal and Young were traversing the same corridors of the Intuit Dome.
Beal, who is recovering from season-ending surgery on a left hip fracture, walked with a cane in his right hand to meet Dawkins near midcourt. There were no hard feelings, just an understanding of what Dawkins’ and Winger’s vision for the Wizards’ future entailed, and why it did not make sense for a then-29-year-old Beal to be part of it.
It has taken two and a half years for that vision to finally come into focus. Now, the Wizards believe it is Young who will accelerate it.
