Alex Sarr leads the continuation of the French influx into the NBA. Will the next chapter come with Hawks?

CHICAGO – Sounds a little too perfect, right?

The Atlanta Hawks win the NBA draft lottery in a year when the consensus closest prospect, Alex Sarr, knows exactly one American city: Atlanta, where he lived for a year as a member of ‘Overtime Elite in 2022-23. . A French big man who played last season for the Perth Wildcats in Australia, Sarr has lived in Spain, the United States and Australia for the past three years while developing his game.

At the NBA Draft Combine, Sarr told reporters that he often went to Hawks games as a spectator — OTE was just two and a half miles from State Farm Arena — but he didn’t know either did not meet any of the players. He’ll surely recognize several if he’s Atlanta’s pick, since the Hawks have made virtually no trades over the past two seasons. (That includes Clint Capela, whom the Atlanta French-speaking center already employs; Sarr said he and the Genevan had never met.)

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Atlanta fans may roll their eyes at the thought that Of course the Hawks won the consolation prize in the lottery last year — another French center went first in last year’s draft, if you haven’t heard, and the 2025 class is pretty loaded, too.

However, there is no doubt that the Hawks were extremely lucky last Sunday. A team that has no tanking options for the next three seasons due to unprotected picks due to the Dejounte Murray trade was lucky to get a No. 1 overall pick anyway. Sarr may not be Victor Wembanyama, but he (or whoever the Hawks take with the first pick) should still be an impactful player, who also benefits from a team-friendly contract for four seasons. And most importantly, for a team that was shredded on defense a year ago, Sarr’s strengths lean heavily toward that end of the floor.

“I’m a versatile defender,” said Sarr, who stood just under 7 feet without shoes last week, “and I can play inside-out offensively.”

Sarr didn’t reveal city preferences at the combine, but said he wants to go No. 1.

“I’m a competitor, so I want to be first in everything I do,” he said. “I don’t know if it matters because I can’t control it. I would tell them I’m the best player in the draft.

Unlike some tall players who start the game late when they realize their height advantage, Sarr said he started playing basketball at age 4 because his father and brother elder both played there. (His brother Olivier played collegiately for Wake Forest and Kentucky and is currently under a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder.)

This path of development was predictable, because France has become a real basketball country. Sarr’s emergence is part of a powerful new wave of French talent arriving in the league over these three years. Besides Wembanyama in 2023 lottery Rookie of the Year pick Washington Wizards forward Bilal Coulibaly and projected 2025 top lottery pick Nolan Traore, four French players are likely picks first round in this draft: attackers Zaccharie Risacher, Tidjane Salaun, Pacôme Dadiet and of course Sarr.

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The Hawks will consider at least two of them, Sarr and Risacher, as No. 1 picks. Sarr is the name most often mentioned at the top of selection committees, but Atlanta executives Landry Fields and Kyle Korver and head coach Quin Snyder said Goodbye at the repechage on Thursday to cross the pond and see Risacher play in France (including this scandalous photo of the game which shows Snyder wearing normal human glasses). Salaun, meanwhile, is a late riser who could derail the lottery the same way Coulibaly did a year ago. Dadiet’s range is more towards the end of the first round.

Faced with this influx, I caught up with France’s most prominent former player, Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, before Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals to discuss his young compatriots.

“I think we have so much talent, it’s exciting,” Gobert said. “20 years ago we had a few guys like (Tony Parker) and Boris Diaw and (Nicolas) Batum, and now you look and there is so much talent coming in every year. Credit the French clubs and the French federation for being able to develop some of these talents and allow them to exploit their abilities.

Gobert knows Olivier Sarr well but has not yet met Alex. Gobert always follows the matches of the French hopefuls, even if the time zones do not allow him to watch them.

“It’s really important for me to be one of those guys who inspires the younger generation. Some of those older guys inspired me,” Gobert said. “It’s just the cycle. I try to lead the way and be there for them…giving them whatever knowledge or whatever they need.

As for his reconnaissance report on young Sarr?

“Of course he has all the tools to be an extraordinary player,” Gobert said. “It always depends on how the guy works, his mindset and his mental toughness. In this league, that’s what it comes down to. This is the one aspect that people don’t realize or talk about from the outside.

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Sarr, who weighed 224 pounds at the combine, has a lean frame. This brings us to Gobert’s big tip.

“Embrace the present moment…and work your body. Obviously skill is really important, but as a 7-footer in this league, body is key and then skill.

Gobert and Sarr could theoretically be teammates as early as next July, when the French team competes in the Olympics, but Sarr could be far from being on that list given the presence of two star centers (Gobert and Wembanyama) on a veteran team . . More likely: Gobert will meet Sarr for the first time in the jumping circle during a Timberwolves game early next season.

Whether that happens against Atlanta or another team is anyone’s guess, and neither the Hawks nor Sarr dropped any hints during the week. No matter who they select on June 26, the Hawks are in a much better position than they were a week ago.

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(Photo by Alex Sarr: Daniel Pockett / Getty Images)