In this fictional exercise, the Hawks land the promising Frenchman.
With the first overall pick of the 2024 SBNation NBA Mock Draft, the Atlanta Hawks select Alex Sarr from the Perth Wildcats of the NBL.
Here’s my blurb that will go in the overall mock draft on the senior site, SB Nation:
With the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, I select for the Atlanta Hawks: Victor Wembanyama! …I’m not allowed to do that? Dang.
Well, this pick isn’t nearly as much of a surefire selection. Both Zaccharie Risacher and Donovan Clingan were heavily considered here, but Sarr’s defensive versatility, mobility skills, and (all too brief) offensive flashes just barely win out. With the way the NBA game is trending, banking on a bouncy, rangy, 7-foot-1 marvel who can guard on the perimeter gives you a solid defensive floor.
There are some clear downsides to his game, more than most would like to admit: he’s slender, has inconsistent hands for catching passes, and can’t reliably set screens for a team that wants to pick-and-roll you to death with Trae Young. On top of that, his jumper and handle are much more theoretical than practical at this stage.
The Hawks don’t have control of their next three first-round picks, so it may be wise to grab as much young talent as possible and hope for a spring forward in production by the third or fourth year. If he can commit to playing the 5 a good portion of time — given the presence of last year’s breakout star Jalen Johnson — it’s hard to pass up on Sarr here.
To expound a bit, my logic is this: I have Alex Sarr no. 1 on my overall big board and even my Hawks specific board when I apply the existing fit of the roster. I think his talent, especially defensively, is just so rare in this class that — even with some overlap with Jalen Johnson — he’s still the guy for the Hawks if I had my druthers.
Sarr will need a specific development plan to get the most out of his two-way potential, and it’s very likely he won’t figure into the 2024-25 Rookie of the Year race due to how raw he still is. But the Hawks are much too far away from contending than to worry about Year 1 production from whomever they draft, in my opinion.
Additionally, the Hawks would have to get creative with how they deploy him. Slide Jalen Johnson to the 3 at times? Play Sarr exclusively with Onyeka Okongwu and hope one of them spaces the floor to a greater extent than they do now? It seems inconceivable that a 7-foot-1, 220-pound player would be a pure power forward, and despite rumblings that he does not want to play the 5, he may just have to if the Hawks make this selection.
Do I think Atlanta will actually select Alex Sarr? Well after being subjected to weeks and months of draft rumors, I would heavily bet against it. As of now, the Hawks still haven’t brought Sarr in for a private, in-house workout. And there’s a thought that any connection from Sarr to the Hawks is a ploy to get the Washington Wizards to hand over an asset to trade up one spot to take him.
My money is between one of Zaccharie Risacher and Donovan Clingan should the Hawks stay at no. 1. But a trade down could bring any number of scenarios into play. We’ll just have to wait and see on Wednesday evening what unfolds.