The NBA Draft is tomorrow night, and the biggest storyline is Alex Sarr and the Atlanta Hawks.
For much of the offseason, Alex Sarr has been the consensus top prospect in a class that supposedly didn’t have a consensus top prospect. That was the narrative up until about a week ago.
Rumblings began circulating that the Hawks weren’t able to get Sarr into the building for a workout, and it was confirmed, with speculation that his camp didn’t want him to work out for the Hawks because they didn’t want him in Atlanta.
With the draft about 24 hours away, the prospects are in New York, and Alex Sarr sat in front of cameras for the first time, telling members of the media why he declined to work out for the Hawks.
Alex Sarr on why he declined to workout with the Atlanta Hawks #NBA #NBADraft pic.twitter.com/v8OvOxqKWX
— Baillie Burmaster (@baillie_burm) June 25, 2024
He clearly didn’t want to divulge into the reason as to why his camp doesn’t want him in Atlanta, but it’s obvious that Alex Sarr and his representation do not want the Hawks to draft him. Why might that be? Well, NBA insider Jonathan Givony spoke to that.
“When you look at the Washington Wizards depth chart and you compare it to the Atlanta Hawks depth chart, with Jalen Johnson at the 4, Onyeka Okongwu, Clint Capela, De’Andre Hunter sliding to the 4, I understand their point of view where they’re looking at the Wizards and they’re saying, Marvin Bagley, Richaun Holmes, Kyle Kuzma at the 4, who probably views himself more as a 3,” Givony said on The Hoop Collective podcast. “Alex Sarr probably looks at that and says the opportunity there for minutes and to play a really featured role is really attractive.”
That’s a bunch of crap if you ask me. If Sarr is good enough, he’ll carve out a featured role because Jalen Johnson is just as capable of switching positions as a player like Kyle Kuzma. Also, the Hawks are expected to trade Clint Capela and listen to offers on De’Andre Hunter. Hell, outside of Jalen Johnson, everybody could be off the roster in the next couple of seasons.
“We can talk about all the situation in Atlanta with Trae Young and Dejounte Murray and the drama that’s around there and maybe that’s not a situation that’s attractive to a young player. A lot of players tried to avoid the Hawks last year,” Givony offered as another potential reason for Sarr’s preference of Washington, which makes a little more sense.
The Hawks shouldn’t care what Alex Sarr or his camp wants. If he’s the top prospect on Atlanta’s big board, he should be the pick; it’s cut and dry.
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Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire
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