NBA Analyst believes Washington Wizards’ second-year player will take massive leap next season, ‘going to be good…’

Goodwill believes Alex Sarr has great potential

Alex Sarr was picked second overall by the Washington Wizards in the 2024 draft. He struggled at the start of the year, but as the season progressed the French player improved and put up good numbers for the team.

He averaged 13 PPG, 6.5 RPG and 1.5 BPG, which are decent numbers for a rookie, but his shot-making was not great and needed a lot of improvement.

Sarr played in the Summer League and put up some brilliant performances, including one against the Brooklyn Nets where he set a competition record of eight blocks.

Speaking about Sarr on his podcast, Goodwill said: “Usually guys that are young, guys who are that young and they’re coming into the league and they’re foreign, it takes them a year to really get it.

“Maybe I’m jumping on it a year early and usually that’s what I’ve been the guy throughout my career, I’ll jump on you a year early, I’ll give you the most-improved tag a year before you maybe really quote unquote deserve it.

“But I’d rather be that guy than saying, ‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I saw along, but I wasn’t going to say,’ No I’m calling my shot, I think this kid is going to be good.”

Alex Sarr still needs to work on a few things

Sarr showed glimpses of what he can do on the NBA floor last season, but the second year is going to be important for him.

The Wizards have an improved roster and he will have to step up if they want to move up the standings.

However, Goodwill believes Sarr needs to add size as he often struggles to stand his own against the other bigs in the league.

“Alex Sarr just because of his physical makeup, I want to see him put on some weight, I want to see him have some better shot selection, sometimes he had trouble with not necessarily length but girth around the rim, like bigger guys seem to affect him a little bit,” Goodwill said.

He certainly has the ability to be an offensive weapon because of his skill, but with the array of talent the Wizards have, Sarr could be more useful defensively with his size.

But if Sarr is able to become a 20-10 player for the Wizards, who can be an elite rim protector, they will be an entertaining side to watch next season.