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Bijan Todd: FINAL: Wizards 109, Bucks 99 The Bucks were shorthanded, so Alex Sarr had a career-high 17 rebounds to go along with 16 points. Kyshawn George dropped 23-5-5. Tre Johnson exited with a sprained ankle and his status is something to monitor going forward.
Josh Robbins: Alex Sarr, who missed practice Wednesday because of an illness and was listed as questionable to play tonight in Washington, is now listed as AVAILABLE to play tonight against the Bucks.
"He has an incredibly unique skill set offensively and defensively." Alex Sarr is one of seven players to defend 500 or more on-ball screens this season and use drop coverage at least 40% of the time and switch at least 15%. Gobert, by comparison, drops 64% of the time and switches only 4%. Sarr is also one of seven players to match up defensively against centers 30 times a game, forwards for 10 times and guards for 10 times this season. Offensively though, he's still growing. In two seasons, Sarr has just 16 scores off lob passes and sometimes lacks the aggression or skill in the post to score inside. The 10 pounds of muscle he put on in the offseason have helped cut his 3-point attempts from 5.1 per game to 2.7 this season and increased his points in the paint from 5.8 last year to 11.1 this season.
In addition, the Wizards view Alex Sarr as their center of the future, league sources told HoopsHype, and despite brief exploratory conversations surrounding Sabonis before acquiring Trae Young, Washington is not inclined to trade for Sabonis at this time. If Washington had been incentivized to take on Sabonis’ contract, the Wizards would’ve considered such an acquisition, HoopsHype has learned.
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Basketball Reference: Alex Sarr is the first player since JaVale McGee in 2011 to have at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks in a game for the Wizards. 👀 See the full list here: www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tin...
This was a value move that the Wizards couldn't pass up. Young is a four-time All-Star and multiple-time league assists leader at a position of dire need. He can facilitate offense for recent draft picks in shooting guard Tre Johnson (No. 6 in 2025), big man Alex Sarr (No. 2 in 2024) and forward Kyshawn George (No. 20 in 2024). And the cost of taking on Young's $49 million player option for the 2026-27 season wasn't an issue for a team that was projected to hit the offseason with $80 million in cap space. (Washington also cleared $14 million by sending Kispert to the Hawks.) "This is pre-agency," a second East executive said. "The Wizards are using cap space in this deal that they would've had this summer."
Ramona Shelburne: The Wizards will miss McCollum’s veteran leadership and scoring. But the thinking here is a point guard of Young’s caliber will help tremendously in the development of young talents like Alex Sarr.
Gobert didn’t need to look far Sunday to find someone who regards him as a role model. That person was Alex Sarr, the Wizards’ 20-year-old starting center who is in the midst of a breakthrough second season in the NBA. Gobert, the 27th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, has won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award four times and made four All-NBA teams. “He definitely paved the way for French players to get drafted,” Sarr said. “Obviously, Tony did it first, but (Rudy) was one of the guys that did it early, in 2013, something like that. He’s definitely been doing that for a long time, coming from France. So I have huge respect for him and all he does, how he prepares, how much he worked on his body to get to this point and be efficient. It’s impressive.”
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Last season on defense, typical of a young big who was acclimating to the faster speed and better athleticism of the NBA, Sarr sometimes found himself a step late to challenge opponents’ forays to the rim. This season, he looks more adept at anticipating opponents’ attacks. “He’s really the anchor to our defense,” Wizards coach Brian Keefe said. “He establishes protecting the paint, which is a big deal in the NBA. Obviously, he’s been doing this since he’s been here, but he’s getting better at this. We’ve still got some work to do on that, even though he’s still blocking four or five a game recently. He just sets the tone for who we want to be in protecting the paint and establishes a presence down there.”
Bijan Todd: FINAL: Wizards 116, Grizzlies 112 Without Kyshawn George, the Wizards staved off a late Memphis push thanks to eight players scoring in double-figures, led by Alex Sarr (20 points, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks!!!) Washington has won consecutive games for the first time since March.
After sleepwalking a bit through the first half, the Spurs woke up and flipped the switch in the second half, turning a four-point leading into a blowout 119- 94 win, allowing the starters to rest since they play again tomorrow in Atlanta. Dylan Harper led the way with a career high 24 points, and five other Spurs joined him in double figures. Five Wizards scored in double figures, led by 18 from Alex Sarr and 17 from Bub Carrington.
Alex Sarr is expected to make his return from the adductor injury that kept him sidelined for the month of December on Thursday against the Spurs. The Wizards released their injury report (via Twitter), which didn’t include either him or Bilal Coulibaly, who has missed the last four games with an oblique injury.
