Contextualizing Wizards Center's Historic Rookie Season on Defense

Alex Sarr was considered one of the best talents on last summer's draft board for nearly the entirety of the pre-draft cycle. Even with lingering concerns about his role on offense and lack of overwhelming physicality, his potential as a defensive force was never questioned.

He was exactly what the Washington Wizards expected during his first year with the franchise, his multidimensional defensive playmaking still shining through what was otherwise an inconsistent debut season of scoring.

The No. 2 overall pick finished second in blocks per game among his 2024 classmates, with his 1.5 nightly swats surpassing all but Portland's Donovan Clingan at 1.6. The young Wizard even stood out compared to his more seasoned fellow NBA players, his 101 blocks per game the seventh most in the league and his per-game numbers putting him one shy of the 10th best mark.

It's hard to contextualize Sarr's rookie season in the NBA's long history of defenders, as the all-time top-25 list of rookie shot-blockers includes few players who averaged under two rejections per night. That list also leans heavily in favor of the pre-pace and space era, with Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Walker Kessler and Mitchell Robinson sticking out as the lone 21st-century prospects to crack the list (outside of a rookie Paul Gasol in 2001-02).

That's the class Sarr is attempting to acquaint himself with in three of the very best interior defenders in the game (Robinson is about a half-decade older than the rest of his counterparts). After all, Sarr did make history in the final week of the season by joining a club that fellow youngsters Wembanyama and Holmgren together established in their joint rookie seasons in 2023-24.