Wizards select French center Alexandre Sarr with No. 2 pick in NBA draft

Moments after the Atlanta Hawks selected Zaccharie Risacher with the top pick in Wednesday’s NBA draft, the Washington Wizards added center Alexandre Sarr with the No. 2 pick to help lead the long-struggling franchise into the future.

Sarr will join last year’s first-round pick, fellow Frenchman Bilal Coulibaly, as foundational pieces for the Wizards on their long path back to relevance.

“Everywhere I’ve played, it’s just built me for this moment,” Sarr said after the pick was announced. “For me to be able to be a top pick now, it’s really special.”

He’s only 19 years old, but Sarr has been a professional basketball player for five years. The 7-footer started his career with Real Madrid, the esteemed Spanish club that boasts Luka Doncic as an alumnus, before playing against American high schoolers with Overtime Elite.

Sarr moved to Australia last season, playing 24 games against “grown men” in the NBL.

“I think it prepared me because I had to adapt to different countries, a different coaching staff, different teammates,” Sarr told reporters on Tuesday. “It just allows me to, when I have to take the next step with an NBA team, I think I’m gonna be able to adapt pretty quickly.”

The teen showed flashes of brilliance against solid competition in Australia despite limited playing time. He demonstrated impressive defensive versatility, using his 7-foot-4-inch wingspan to block shots and patrol the paint while averaging 9.7 points per game on offense.

“When you play against grown men, I don’t know if you’re more ready, but in my experience, I feel like I already know what it takes to be a pro,” Sarr said. “That’s definitely an advantage.”

Sarr says he wasn’t always the biggest player on the court before a growth spurt made him a top NBA prospect. Growing up, Sarr focused on his ball-handling and shooting to keep up with bigger opponents.

Those skills helped his development. Nowadays, the big man drifts around the court with ease, an uncommon sight for someone of his size.

“When I was younger, I was playing with older guys and I wasn’t the tallest or the fastest. I had to kind of learn different types of skills and learn ways where I can impact the game without being the strongest or the fastest,” he said. “Then I grew into my body and that allowed me to play more physical and be more of a defensive presence.”

In the NBL, Sarr sharpened his skills as a shooter. He hit 52% of his shots for the Perth Wildcats, including 30% of his attempts from three-point range. Experts anticipate that his shooting stroke will only improve with NBA coaching.

Sarr says he doesn’t want to be pinned down by any archetype — he’s too adaptable. The Wizards’ new center refused to say whether his game resembles any current NBA players, despite drawing lofty comparisons to stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“I’m a five that can do a lot of things on the court,” Washington’s new center said.

Sarr has an immediate shot at starting for a Wizards team that desperately needed interior defense last season — the floundering squad allowed a league-worst 58 paint points per game.

The Wizards haven’t found sustained success since they were known as the Bullets in the 1980s.  

Washington has been in teardown mode since trading away All-Stars Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis last offseason. General manager Will Dawkins has said the team will continue considering trades as the franchise builds for the future.

The overhaul continued Wednesday when Dawkins agreed to trade forward Deni Avdija, the team’s longest-tenured player, to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for guard Malcolm Brogdon, the No. 14 pick in Wednesday’s draft, a 2029 first-round pick and two second-round picks. The Trail Blazers selected Pittsburgh guard Bub Carrington for the Wizards with the 14th pick. The Wizards weren’t done as the Knicks later drafted University of Miami guard Kyshawn George with the 24th pick and traded his rights to Washington for the 26th pick.

Avdija had signed a four-year, $55 million extension with the Wizards in October, but Washington opted to add more draft capital and a veteran presence in Brogdon.

“We’re in the bottom phase of building that foundation, I think [we] put some of those blocks together this year,” Dawkins said at a press conference earlier this month. “The bottom takes some time.”

The NBA draft will resume with the second round at 4 p.m. on Thursday.