You should never give up on a prospect because of a Summer League game, but Washington Wizards No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr did his detractors a lot of favors on Tuesday.
The big man went a horrible 0 of 15 from the field (0 of 7 from 3-point range) against the Portland Trail Blazers, finishing the game with zero points, nine rebounds, three steals, two blocks, two assists and two turnovers. 82-80 loss to the Wizards. Even a 1-for-15 performance would have evened the score.
Sarr’s errors were of a different nature. He was 0 for 4 under the basket. He was 0-for-4 in the rest of the paint. He was 0-for-3 on 3-point attempts from corners. He was 0-for-4 from the rest of the perimeter.
Here’s what it looks like, via NBA.com:
The “performance” makes a little more sense when you realize that Sarr was facing Blazers center Donovan Cligan, the 7th overall pick in his draft. It was a clash between the two big names in the draft, which Clingan won decisively with eight points, 13 rebounds, five blocks, two assists and three turnovers.
Cligan wasn’t responsible for all or even most of Sarr’s failures, but the two-time NCAA champion definitely imposed his will:
We’ll say it again: you shouldn’t think Sarr is an automatic failure just because of one extremely bad shooting night. However, if you thought the Wizards and other assorted draftniks were very excited about a skinny big man with little experience against top competition and an offensive game that still needs a lot of development, this is probably a justifying read.
Scouting reports on Sarr have always focused on his defense as the side of the court where he brings immediate value and significant long-term potential, with the hope that he can be an aggressive Chet Holmgren-style threat on offense. Tuesday showed he may have a long way to go before he even gets close to that.
Or he could be out in the next game or two because this is Summer League.
