With the No. 2 pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, the Washington Wizards selected big man, Alex Sarr, from France. At 19 years old, Sarr will be a project to develop but fortunately, Washington is less of a basketball team and more of an experiment to see if an NBA team can continue to be so atrocious, year-after-year, that literally zero (0) fans come to the arena—so he’ll have plenty of time to figure out his NBA role.
Alex Sarr showed some flashes of greatness in the summer league:
Alex Sarr tonight
12 points
7 rebounds
4 assists
4 blocks
4-12 3P
2-5 3PDefense was dominant
pic.twitter.com/RLuXDTdsKE— Teg🚨 (@IQfor3) July 13, 2024
But for the most part, he was ass.
Sarr finished the Summer League 9-for-47 from the field (19%), with a 22.6% true shooting percentage and a 3.8 PER.
That 3.8 PER is the worst of any first-round draft pick in Summer League history. Sick.
I have no idea how Sarr’s career will turn out. I won’t pretend like I’ve been combing through his Australian league film.
But Evan Fournier just made a decision that forces me to question if the Washington Wizards blew the pick.
Evan Fournier said he was offered a 2 years contract with the Wizards in NBA, but he wasn’t interested in a “mentoring role” with the youngsters, “in a losing team”.
Added he wants to “compete” in Europe and “enjoy playing basketball again”.
Reported by @lequipe &…
— Maxime Aubin (@MaximeAubin1) September 4, 2024
The Washington Wizards offered free agent, Evan Fournier, a 2-year contract to help mentor their young talent and he turned it down because he didn’t want to be in a losing situation.
Fournier’s won 2 silver medals with the French National Team. I imagine his French roots are important to him and he maintains relationships with his fellow French-born players in the league.
So you’d think at just 32 years old and more years left of ball in his blood, Fournier would want the opportunity to stay in the league, get playing team, and help the teenage Alex Sarr navigate in this bizarro world where every dinner costs $1,000+ and every girl, out of nowhere, is on birth control so don’t worry about that condom.
Alex Sarr either stinks at basketball or is a nightmare to be around or both. Either way, Fournier will be better off playing overseas.
Yeaaahhhh it’s understandable why some guys leave the NBA. Evan Fournier welcomed like a king to @Olympiacos_BC. This is wildddd pic.twitter.com/d8DFejoRTO
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) September 5, 2024
No one in America is treating Evan Fournier this way.
Good luck to Fournier and this alleged winning situation that’s so important to him.
Last time he was in a winning situation he elected to mope on the bench instead of figuring out how to play defense which would’ve helped carve playing time for him on a 50-win Knicks team.
Also, Fournier has played in 4 playoff series. His teams have never made it out of the first round.
This ultimate “winner” who couldn’t help any team win shit. Perhaps he and Alex Sarr have more in common than he thought.
Thanks for reading. Go ahead and sign up for the D, the daily Deadseriousness newsletter sent directly to your inbox every AM.
Alex Sarr is gonna suck, isn’t he? Leave a comment below. Respond on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee.