Alex Sarr

[prime1time]

Sarr is a unicorn. Once this is accepted real analysis of Sarr's game can start. The story of this season is Alex Sarr's remarkable journey from going 0-15 in summer league to looking like a dominant offensive force. In the history of basketball I can't think of another similar player arc.

Imo, Sarr still has a long way to go. What's happening right now is that he's destroying teams defensive schemes. Teams are coming in trying to guard him like a 5 who wants to shoot but sucks at it, and Sarr is just torching them. The reason teams are reluctant to change their scheme is because they are more worried about losing rim protection than they are defending Sarr 3's. I said it about Troy Brown Jr, I said it about Rui Hachimura, I said it about Deni Avidija and I'll say it about Sarr.

Sarr's ability to shoot the 3 will determine the future of his career. Percentages don't matter. The only thing that matters is are teams fearful of your three 3-point shooting enough to alter their defense. We saw this in Utah where they decided to switch everything and then Poole quickly took their center off the bounce for a layup. In Sarr's last 12 games he is shooting 38.1% from 3 on 6.3 3's a game. But this stat doesn't even do it justice because the Wizards have drastically reduced his minutes. In the last 2 games Sarr has attempted 9 3's in 32 minutes (vs. the Nuggets) 9 3s in 22 minutes (vs. the Blazers) and 8 3's in 23 minutes (vs. the Jazz).

For the season Steph Curry averages .35 3's attempted per minute. In Sarr's last 3 games he is shooting .33 3's per minute. And in his last two games he is shooting .37 3's per minute. To put it another way on a per minute basis, in the last 2 games Alex Sarr is attempting more 3's per minute than Steph Curry on average. What's even crazier is that Alex is having success.

There are many things to parse through here, but the first is this. Alex is taking what the defense gives him. They are leaving him open so he's letting it fly. The bigger goal, isn't to attempt a ton of 3's, but to force the defense to change how they are defending Alex. Thus creating more space for everyone else on the floor. You can argue small sample size, but by any stretch this is simply stunning for a player who went 0-15 in Summer League less than a year ago.

Which gets me to my next point. Alex Sarr is special. It's one thing to have potential. It's another thing to work hard. But even more than that, it's another thing to actually improve. Go look up clips of Sarr shooting 3's for the Perth Wildcats. Now lookup his last game and look at his form. Completely different and much improved. And the same goes for all of his skills. Across the board improvement.
It's like - and I'm willing to bet anything that this is how it went down - the Wizards before the draft told him we'll let you be a forward but you have to put in the work. And my word, has he put in the work. The story of Alex Sarr's rookie season isn't that he he doesn't want to be limited to center. It's that he's willing to out the work in to be a forward.

[doclinkin]

Nicely written. And I applaud the use of a self quote to write a docworthy length post. Plus I agree.

[prime1time]

Sarr is a unicorn. Once this is accepted real analysis of Sarr's game can start. The story of this season is Alex Sarr's remarkable journey from going 0-15 in summer league to looking like a dominant offensive force. In the history of basketball I can't think of another similar player arc.

Imo, Sarr still has a long way to go. What's happening right now is that he's destroying teams defensive schemes. Teams are coming in trying to guard him like a 5 who wants to shoot but sucks at it, and Sarr is just torching them. The reason teams are reluctant to change their scheme is because they are more worried about losing rim protection than they are defending Sarr 3's. I said it about Troy Brown Jr, I said it about Rui Hachimura, I said it about Deni Avidija and I'll say it about Sarr.

Sarr's ability to shoot the 3 will determine the future of his career. Percentages don't matter. The only thing that matters is are teams fearful of your three 3-point shooting enough to alter their defense. We saw this in Utah where they decided to switch everything and then Poole quickly took their center off the bounce for a layup. In Sarr's last 12 games he is shooting 38.1% from 3 on 6.3 3's a game. But this stat doesn't even do it justice because the Wizards have drastically reduced his minutes. In the last 2 games Sarr has attempted 9 3's in 32 minutes (vs. the Nuggets) 9 3s in 22 minutes (vs. the Blazers) and 8 3's in 23 minutes (vs. the Jazz).

For the season Steph Curry averages .35 3's attempted per minute. In Sarr's last 3 games he is shooting .33 3's per minute. And in his last two games he is shooting .37 3's per minute. To put it another way on a per minute basis, in the last 2 games Alex Sarr is attempting more 3's per minute than Steph Curry on average. What's even crazier is that Alex is having success.

There are many things to parse through here, but the first is this. Alex is taking what the defense gives him. They are leaving him open so he's letting it fly. The bigger goal, isn't to attempt a ton of 3's, but to force the defense to change how they are defending Alex. Thus creating more space for everyone else on the floor. You can argue small sample size, but by any stretch this is simply stunning for a player who went 0-15 in Summer League less than a year ago.

Which gets me to my next point. Alex Sarr is special. It's one thing to have potential. It's another thing to work hard. But even more than that, it's another thing to actually improve. Go look up clips of Sarr shooting 3's for the Perth Wildcats. Now lookup his last game and look at his form. Completely different and much improved. And the same goes for all of his skills. Across the board improvement.
It's like - and I'm willing to bet anything that this is how it went down - the Wizards before the draft told him we'll let you be a forward but you have to put in the work. And my word, has he put in the work. The story of Alex Sarr's rookie season isn't that he he doesn't want to be limited to center. It's that he's willing to out the work in to be a forward.

The one player who looms over this entire conversation is Wembanyama. All his life Sarr has had to live in Wemby's shasdow. So this notion that he was just going to be a basic big man while Wemby attempts 9.9 3's a game in his sophomore year was never going to happen. I think Wemby's success will drive Sarr and ultimately bring out the best in him. I would expect year 2 of Sarr to look a lot like year two of Wemby.

[The Consiglieri]

Let's be honest for a second. From where Sarr was in Summer League to where Sarr is now, the improvement has been remarkable. In Sarr's last 11 games he's shooting 36.8% from 3 on 6.2 3-point attempts a game. And he routinely shows flashes of advanced skill. I know people won't like the 2p fg % but for a player who had his 3-point shooting questioned and was projected as a major offensive project it's hard to describe this year as anything but a resounding success.

For Sarr detractors the story of this season will be his 2p fg% but for people who want to get excited about Sarr the reality is that he's been better offensively than many of us expected after summer league.

All this stuff is always the same.

There are people who really, really, really hated the Sarr pick. They wanted Shepard, and Clingan generally, a few probably wanted Castle who looks like perhaps the best pick.

Nothing Sarr does in terms of improvement, or performance is going to change their mind until it is patently obvious that Sarr is a legit average or above average performer. Happily, some metrics can illustrate these possibilities and Sarr generally speaking either will or will not improve TS this, or 2 pt percentage that, or hit the boards and grab rebounds like a big instead of a short PG etc.

W/regards to Summer League, anyone thinking at all at this point is just nuts. Summer League was 5 games, 8 months ago. He's played 53 games since the summer debacle, a much better sample size, in terms of raw counting stats, he's just a touch under 14-7-2 in terms of pts/rebounds/assists.

But the issues Ton sees with his shooting, and physical limitations are real and obvious, this is basically a debate between people who didn't want him and have the metrics to prove that there are plenty of elements of his basic game that just flat out suck (layups, physicality, touch), and then the positive bunch like me and Frichela and some others, see the flashes, see his ability to have really productive impressive games here and there and see things to build on here. If he works, and works and works, and gets stronger, and focuses on touch and feel, and his finishing inside, "A TON OF FREAKING IF's," he will turn into a legit stud, if he does some of that but not all of that, he'll be a solid player, if he doesn't put the work in, he will continue to be flashes and ineffectual and largely be a bust.

We haven't had a prospect like this since probably, what, Kelly Oubre? It's been a long, long, long time since we've had a player who has clear tools, and talent, but also has an absolute ton of work to do, and improvement to make, to turn the raw talent/tools, into pieces of a very good players game. Oubre never committed to become great, relied on his tools and athleticism, and built a decade long career of tantalizing potential that reached no higher than his largely floor expectations, I can't think of another player like Sarr other than Oubre in our picks over the last 10+ years, really since the Wall rebuild. So who knows what will happen?

What I find odd is the people that can't see moments here and there and see hope? Like, the hope is obvious, the problem is, there's no solid flooring on that hope beneath us. If he's become anything, he needs to work, work work, but unlike Johnny Davis, unlike Troy Brown, Vesely, Singleton, Pech, etc, there's something here to work with, but the problem is, he isn't a locked in moderate floor guy like Jeffries, Young, Porter etc, he doesn't have that, locked in: "he's at least this".

Sarr isn't at least anything, he's a mix of flashes of high end potential, and horrible floors, he's tools, and weaknesses, but he puts together games, and at times six week chunks, where he shows what he can be if he puts in the average or above average expected work rate in the offseason and has at least a moderate collection of results linked to said work. If that doesn't happen, if he coasts, he's a bust. If he does work, and doesn't get the moderate expected results, he's probably a below average end result for his potential floor-ceiling expectations circa June 2024.

So a portion of the board is betting on the hopes and the flashes, a portion is betting on the performance indicators for now over large sample size, and a portion hated the pick and are self-reinforcing all the negs, and ignoring the flashes etc.

That's how I feel interpreting this anyway, and nobody can win the argument because we are not going to know, "who he is" as a worker and in terms of results from said work, until 2026 to early 2027, that's a long time, so these arguments are going to be monumentally annoying. Hopefully he makes a jump really early in '25-'26, and we get an answer immediately, but that's probably something wizard fans never get, good, positive news that undeniable, instead it will probably be more flashes, and inconsistency as he tries to grow as a player.

We'll see. I feel hopeful, if for no other reason than recently with Brown, and Davis, it was obvious they just sucked, and decades ago with Arvis, and Jeffries, it was obvious they would never be key pieces, and guys like Veseley and Pech and what not were obvious busts, and Oubre was quite obviously not a determined worker etc, those were much easier to handle because we knew very quickly what we were getting with all of them. With Sarr, the crazy high ceiling remains, that historically awful finishing rate on layups is, unbelievably low level floor-ish, and we just don't know who he is and as such what he'll be. It's gonna be a long 12-18 months lol before we're likely to have clear answers, not typical of Wizards fandom where its usually obvious we done ----ed up immediately.

[AFM]

5. Alex Sarr, Washington Wizards

Season stats: 12.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 8
Draft pick: No. 2

Looked rejuvenated in a big 2-1 week (24.3 ppg), including a season-high 34 (5-for-9 from the arc) to win at Denver. Only the fourth rookie since 2020 on pace to average at least 10 points, six rebounds and one blocked shot.

[DCZards]

Well said, Consig.

[tontoz]

Sarr is a strange case because he has been better than expected from 3 (36.6% since Dec 1) but awful on 2s. That is an odd scenario for a big.

[The Consiglieri]

I forgot to mention the 3 piece, the obvious trend lines of improvement, especially if you pro-rate to around Thanksgiving to now. He opened the season 11 for 65, 16.9%, starting November 26th to now, he's made I believe 76 of 200 (check my work) for 38% of his 3's after his opening 15 game run when everyone was clanging the alarm bells that he looked like a bust (basically his breakout that lead to rookie of the month began right around the week of Thanksgiving), that # has moved beyond small sample size madness as its basically four months worth of data and around 40+ games, or a half season of #'s. If it was a mirage, it would have broken, but it hasn't really, some months have clearly been better than others, and his biggest dip not surprisingly since the weak opening month of the season, coincided with his return from an injury that cost him around 8 games around late January to the start of March.

That area in particular is a really promising sign. He's basically been a legit 3 point weapon, period, since Thanksgiving, and it's also worth noting, and I have forgotten to reference it every time we post about this guy: in transition, and in the open floor in general, dude can move, can really move, which is part of the reason I think he could develop hands inside to finish layups, I do think you can get better hands with repitition, that's how all people become skilled or at least competent at catching anything after all, right, practice, lots, and lots of practice, he may never have great hands, but there's no reason why he can't develop at least average hands, and the fact that he can play so smoothly and with dexterity in transition, tells me that the work he's done with his handle/hands in terms of dribbling transitions, is suggestive of a guy with tools there, just not a lot of repetition using it in terms of inside the paint play, and lay ups (quite obviously, he's spent a ton of time focusing on his 3, and less on the former).

[tontoz]

Having watched the game a long time i see some common problems with young guys shooting 3s which Sarr doesn't have.

1) getting bothered by misses. For example Deni and now Bub would hang their heads at times after misses. You will miss most of the time so if misses get in your head that is a problem. Sarr dgaf.

2) reluctance to shoot. A lot of guys pass up good looks from three for whatever reason. Mobley has always seemed to be a reluctant 3 pt shooter. Bub has passed up a lot of looks. Sarr really doesn't pass up open looks.

3) poor shot selection. Some young guys who are capable 3 pt shooters don't understand the difference between a good 3 and a bad one. For example when i watch Wemby he invariably takes some 3s that make me cringe. Not everyone should be taking step backs/pull ups/ shots way behind the line. Sarr really doesn't take many bad 3s.

So he gets props from me for what he's shown from 3

[doclinkin]

Let's be honest for a second. From where Sarr was in Summer League to where Sarr is now, the improvement has been remarkable. In Sarr's last 11 games he's shooting 36.8% from 3 on 6.2 3-point attempts a game. And he routinely shows flashes of advanced skill. I know people won't like the 2p fg % but for a player who had his 3-point shooting questioned and was projected as a major offensive project it's hard to describe this year as anything but a resounding success.

For Sarr detractors the story of this season will be his 2p fg% but for people who want to get excited about Sarr the reality is that he's been better offensively than many of us expected after summer league.

All this stuff is always the same.

There are people who really, really, really hated the Sarr pick. They wanted Shepard, and Clingan generally, a few probably wanted Castle who looks like perhaps the best pick.

Nothing Sarr does in terms of improvement, or performance is going to change their mind until it is patently obvious that Sarr is a legit average or above average performer. Happily, some metrics can illustrate these possibilities and Sarr generally speaking either will or will not improve TS this, or 2 pt percentage that, or hit the boards and grab rebounds like a big instead of a short PG etc.

I'm one who doubted him and did not want him based on the metrics and what I saw in the Ozzie league. And who has come around to seeing a role for him in the NBA despite his limitations. I don't think he will ever rebound well. I have doubts about his ability to score in traffic, even with added muscle.

However I think he has utility in a league that has more and more unicorn type Bigs that would rather be KD than Kareem. If you want to be a contender, you have to have a guy who can guard skilled bigs anywhere on the court. On offense I agree with pr1me that he can play a role as a defense-bending outside shooter that forces opponents to chase.

Okay so he does not score inside, or rebound. Unless he develops radically someone else will have to do that. However his odd stat profile opens opportunity for a cheaper more freely available sort of player, guys like Queen or CMB or Trayce Jackson Davis or Johni Broome, JT Toppin, etc. Undersized but productive low post players can be found deep into the 2nd round. They commonly slide down the draft boards after the combine. Often they can't find a role on teams because of lack of space on the interior, where their low post skills are underutilized since nobody works on post entry passing, and since they are more often stuffed at this level by the goliaths of a size they haven't seen before. But this sort of player still rebounds well, bullies smaller players, sets mean screens, hard fouls, and often has secondary skills of the sort that Draymond has made a career from. Our Champagnie brother is feasting in this role. PJ Tucker has made a 20 year career out of that sort of play. Udonis Haslem types.

With Sarr as a roaming missile shield on the outside, you can actually challenge 3pt shooters of all sizes. Shave down the %'s of teams that rely on the bombs-away strategy. And is about the only hope you have against guys like Wemby. Tell me what other rookie has both blocked Wemby and dunked on him? Then, as a weakside shot blocker who moves well he can help erase shots of opposing bigs who try to take advantage of those junk yard dog types in the paint. You only need the smaller tougher guy to check the enemy bigs and hold position a second before Sarr can close to challenge.

It's different. Non traditional. But there is an opportunity there. But we don't have to worry about that for a couple years anyway. We are still collecting assets, not building teams and strategies.

But the issues Ton sees with his shooting, and physical limitations are real and obvious, this is basically a debate between people who didn't want him and have the metrics to prove that there are plenty of elements of his basic game that just flat out suck (layups, physicality, touch), and then the positive bunch like me and Frichela and some others, see the flashes, see his ability to have really productive impressive games here and there and see things to build on here. If he works, and works and works, and gets stronger, and focuses on touch and feel, and his finishing inside, "A TON OF FREAKING IF's," he will turn into a legit stud, if he does some of that but not all of that, he'll be a solid player, if he doesn't put the work in, he will continue to be flashes and ineffectual and largely be a bust.

Fans here are re-dicklessly impatient. I get it, we haven't been through an intentional rebuild before. Not one that has worked anyway, since every opportunity we have had in the past was short circuited by management being too hasty and lacking patience to endure the hurt. The closest we got was Wall-Beal-Otto before we squandered it all on pointless trades.

Still, it is absurd to me that Wiz fans of all people are complaining this early when we haven't even been through a single offseason yet with these 4 rookies. Give them a minute. What you want to see is how they come through the summer. How they grow, literally in some cases. Aside from the supertalents at the top of the lotto, traditional break out year comes in year 3 of a player's career. That's with players who were 20-21 yrs old their rookie season. Not guys who were 18yo when they were drafted. You'd think seeing baby Deni's breakout would point towards both reasons for hope and reasons for patience alike. Deni was of-and-on lousy his first couple years. Actually regressed in some categories between rookie and sophomore seasons. With opportunity (bye bye Rui) and a good developmental team (hello WingerDawkins) he broke out. Got confidence that was sustained even after the trade. Nice for him.

Here we are jumpstarting young players like Deni by giving them all of the opportunity, reps, and development that they could want. Even while they still mostly suck. The way we should have with Deni (that is, without Kuzma using up all the suck as a veteran). We are supposed to struggle. This year and next year. We selected raw projects. Baby NBA players. Relax and lose. Just for a minute while we draft the no-doubt high level scorers. If not this year, then next. Depending on where our ping pong balls fall. AFTER we draft that guy, we can work on how to win. Or panic. As needed.

[dckingsfan]

Sarr is going to be a really good 3-point shooter as his career moves on. I don't think there should be any doubt about this now.

Which brings up the question of why we are pigeonholing him at C. I think this is a bad move both offensively and defensively.

On D, from the games I have watched, he doesn't really enjoy contact. But he has been switchable and a good off-ball defender and seems to be fine defending forwards. And he rebounds like a small forward even though he is presented the opportunities to rebound from the C position.

Doc's idea, IMO, is spot on. Move this guy to forward - I think he could be really special in that role.

[J-Ves]

I still think Sarr at C is the ideal position for him. Defending Sarr + a skilled PF is way more difficult than defending Sarr + a traditional C. You saw the Denver game and the Portland game where he got easy looks behind the arc because many Cs just don’t have the ability to waddle out that far

[dckingsfan]

I still think Sarr at C is the ideal position for him. Defending Sarr + a skilled PF is way more difficult than defending Sarr + a traditional C. You saw the Denver game and the Portland game where he got easy looks behind the arc because many Cs just don’t have the ability to waddle out that far

Smh... switching is a thing. And remember, Sarr has to defend those Cs - that is his kryptonite.

Moving him to PF would also allow us to play big. See Cleveland.

[Jay81]

has anyone noticed that Sarrs hand have improved...either that or his catching confidence but he isnt dropping as many balls lol

[payitforward]

A lot of speculation about uncertainties leading to pictures drawn based on outcomes of those uncertainties....

Well, why not? We r fans! & we *like* talking about our team & players!

Meanwhile, we don't none of us have the slightest idea of how Alex will turn out. All the more reason to clap for him! Try & put a wind at his back! Why not? Go Alex!!

[dckingsfan]

A lot of speculation about uncertainties leading to pictures drawn based on outcomes of those uncertainties....

Well, why not? We r fans! & we *like* talking about our team & players!

Meanwhile, we don't none of us have the slightest idea of how Alex will turn out. All the more reason to clap for him! Try & put a wind at his back! Why not? Go Alex!!

Interesting. I would say we can see the floor if not the ceiling, no? And that floor is going to be pretty good.

I don't understand this part. Do you think there are fans that are actively rooting against him?

[willbcocks]

Having great hands is about confidence, anticipation, engagement, and coordination. The only one of those things you can't improve with more practice is coordination, and Sarr's other skills show that's probably not his problem. Once he learns the game more and learns the situations in the pick and roll where he'll get the ball, he'll catch better. His picks are already a lot better.

I've said it since summer league, but the guys ability to shrug off criticism, stay confident and just keep putting in the work is a huge reason for optimism.

[DCZards]

Having great hands is about confidence, anticipation, engagement, and coordination. The only one of those things you can't improve with more practice is coordination, and Sarr's other skills show that's probably not his problem. Once he learns the game more and learns the situations in the pick and roll where he'll get the ball, he'll catch better. His picks are already a lot better.

I've said it since summer league, but the guys ability to shrug off criticism, stay confident and just keep putting in the work is a huge reason for optimism.

Sarr became an instant meme following his 0-15 SL game. Now, if those same folks are paying attention, they see that he’s a uniquely skilled big with a ton of potential.

Like you said, Sarr appeared to take the SL game lampooning in stride.

[Despy]

Fans root against their own players all the time. Either to be the right side of the argument that they suck, or so that it becomes obvious the franchise needs to move on from the player. If your mental model is that X player sucks (and going 0-15 in a summer league game is something for sucky busts) then youd rather win the argument than have your model be torn down.

[The Consiglieri]

Fans here are re-dicklessly impatient. I get it, we haven't been through an intentional rebuild before. Not one that has worked anyway, since every opportunity we have had in the past was short circuited by management being too hasty and lacking patience to endure the hurt. The closest we got was Wall-Beal-Otto before we squandered it all on pointless trades.

Still, it is absurd to me that Wiz fans of all people are complaining this early when we haven't even been through a single offseason yet with these 4 rookies. Give them a minute. What you want to see is how they come through the summer. How they grow, literally in some cases. Aside from the supertalents at the top of the lotto, traditional break out year comes in year 3 of a player's career. That's with players who were 20-21 yrs old their rookie season. Not guys who were 18yo when they were drafted. You'd think seeing baby Deni's breakout would point towards both reasons for hope and reasons for patience alike. Deni was of-and-on lousy his first couple years. Actually regressed in some categories between rookie and sophomore seasons. With opportunity (bye bye Rui) and a good developmental team (hello WingerDawkins) he broke out. Got confidence that was sustained even after the trade. Nice for him.

Here we are jumpstarting young players like Deni by giving them all of the opportunity, reps, and development that they could want. Even while they still mostly suck. The way we should have with Deni (that is, without Kuzma using up all the suck as a veteran). We are supposed to struggle. This year and next year. We selected raw projects. Baby NBA players. Relax and lose. Just for a minute while we draft the no-doubt high level scorers. If not this year, then next. Depending on where our ping pong balls fall. AFTER we draft that guy, we can work on how to win. Or panic. As needed.

In reference to earlier in your post. You may be one, but there were a ton of people who didn't want him.

Just spit balling, it felt like:

25% of the board wanted Clingan

35% of the board wanted a trade down for Castle, or Holland, or Shepard or taking one of those guys at slot.

40% of the board were fine w/the swing for the fences that was Sarr (I was one of those guys).

I've always had the weird, never repeated by anyone else take (lol), that he was the perfect pick because any of the 3 potential results we had from him would help us long term:

1. He becomes a star: Obviously that's great.

2. He becomes a solid, above average to league average starter or close to that: Good, that helps long term, but it also doesn't improve us enough in the short term to impact our tanking.

3. He is a mega bust, and that helps our tanking an absolute ton for the following two loaded drafts ('25 which appeared to be good and top heavy, and '26 which appeared to be good, top heavy but also deeper).

All of those scenarios to me were much better ideas than trying to hit high floor doubles and singles with picks like Risacher, Shepard, Clingan, and Castle, all of whom had the ability to step in immediately and help, maybe too much, but also, almost across the board, had lower long term ceiling potential than Sarr. That's why I wanted no part of them, they would hurt the tank AND fail to provide the ceiling potential that Sarr would offer in addition to being too damn raw to help the team win immediately.

So I always viewed all of those guys as borderline idiotic picks, they felt like Jared Jeffries kind of selections: get a good solid player, get a better team immediately through said pick, offer no roof raising potential, and also screw us in terms of tanking. No thank you. I will admit Castle gave me some pause, as I wasn't sure what his ceiling was, same to a lesser degree with the mecurial and apparently bat ---- crazy Holland, but not remotely enough for me to want to pass on Sarr.

I am also uber patient, it's one of the aspects that I find so confounding w/other fans. Many, many, many of us have been watching this slow moving disaster of a franchise since Reagan was a president, if we kept watching through the middling eighties, horrible nineties, crazy erratic aughts, heartbreaking last decade, and the total ---- show that has been 2019-2025, I have no idea whatsoever why tanking for another 2 or 3 years beyond 2024 is a big deal for anyone. This team has been utterly unwatchable for basically my entire NBA watching life (will hit 40 years in 2026). what is 2 more years? 3 potentially? It's nothing. I have total patience for these guys and Bilal. Total. High hopes for them, and considering how utterly ---- I viewed the draft a year ago, to have a legit player in Bub, a guy with legit potential in George, and a guy with a great ceiling and clearly reasonable floor in Sarr is a HUGE win to me. There are only 2 or 3 guys in the top 20 I'd rather us have picked thus far, but I'm very happy that we quite clearly snagged 3 of the better guys of the top 25, and probably all 3 of them will end up top 10-15ish. It is weird to see that a few of us, me included, seem to have nailed Collier. I remember him being #1 to #3 at worse in the summer and fall of '23 mocks and remain flabbergasted he dropped so far. A good reminder that GM's in all sports can continuously just be stupid.