How a season in Perth launched 'special' NBA draftee Alex Sarr and secured another major win for Australian basketball (2024)

When NBA commissioner Adam Silver read Alex Sarr's name out as the second overall pick in the NBA Draft, it wasn't just Washington and France rejoicing, it was Perth as well.

Sarr became the third player to spend a season in Australia's NBL before going to the NBA as a top-10 draft pick, joining LaMelo Ball (third in 2020) and Josh Giddey (sixth in 2021).

The 19-year-old big man played a crucial role for the Perth Wildcats, who finished second on the ladder before being bounced in the semifinals by the eventual champion Tasmania JackJumpers.

Here's the story of how one of the world's best basketball prospects ended up in Perth before taking his next step to the NBA.

The program bringing the world's best youngsters to Australian shores

Sarr's season with the Wildcats can't be delved into without discussing the program that has given the NBL a major boost since its inception — NBL Next Stars.

Each of the NBL's 10 teams has an extra spot on its roster for a Next Stars player, with the salary paid to that player sitting outside of the salary cap. The spots can go to both local and international players.

"The Next Stars program is an alternative professional pathway towards launching your career to the NBA Draft," Next Stars general manager of recruitment Liam Santamaria told ABC Sport.

"We provide a platform for young players — local or international — to determine their game, have a fantastic life experience and then launch their career towards the NBA."

The program enjoyed its most success in this year's draft, with Sarr joined by three other players — Illawarra's AJ Johnson, Cairns's Bobi Klintman and Melbourne's Ariel Hukporti — on NBA rosters. Trentyn Flowers, who played for the Adelaide 36ers, signed with the LA Clippers shortly after the draft as an undrafted free agent.

"The Next Stars program brings a lot to the league," Santamaria said.

"It is exciting on a local stage for us Australians to watch these future NBA top picks and future stars playing in our league, but it's also really important for our status in global basketball.

"Most people around the world in Europe and America and amongst NBA circles, what they know about the NBL predominantly is that guys like LaMelo Ball, Josh Giddey, Ousmane Dieng, Alex Sarr; these types of guys have developed their game in that league on their way to the first round of the NBA Draft.

"It gives us great recognition and exposure around the world in what is a really competitive landscape in terms of recruitment and harnessing and garnering interest in the league."

Ball is undoubtedly the program's biggest success story so far, having made an NBA All-Star team while also winning the Rookie of the Year award in his debut season with the Charlotte Hornets. He signed a five-year, US$204 million ($305 million) extension with the Hornets last July.

How the Sarr family settled on and fell in love with Perth

Sarr heads to Washington having travelled one of the more circuitous paths of any draftee in recent memory.

Born in Bordeaux, France, Sarr grew up in Toulouse. In 2019, Sarr moved to Spain to play in the Real Madrid academy for two seasons.

Following his time in Spain, Sarr moved to the United States to join the Overtime Elite league in Atlanta, where he played for another two seasons. His play at both stops caught the eye of the NBL.

"The process with Alex actually goes back a couple of years," Santamaria said.

"He's certainly been on the radar for a lot of people and certainly NBA scouts for a number of years [as] an elite young prospect out of France.

"It was in advance of the 2022-23 season that we as a program had our first conversation with Alex's representatives about the Next Stars [program] and the NBL as a potential pathway for Alex. Those conversations really ramped up in advance of last year.

"When I first watched Alex as a prospect was watching him play for France at the Under-17 World Cup in 2022, and then from there, watching him at Overtime Elite.

"It was clear from the outset that he has some incredible physical tools that project him towards the NBA level, a seven-footer with such an incredible plus wingspan, but it was his mobility on the floor and his versatile skillset that grabbed my attention.

"A guy at his size that can move like he moves and can do the kinds of things he can do on both ends of the floor make him a special prospect."

Shortly after Sarr's family had expressed interest in moving to the NBL prior to being drafted, the Wildcats appeared as a frontrunner to secure his services.

Sarr met with the team's head coach, John Rillie, and its GM, Danny Mills, among others in order to determine whether the two parties were a fit for each other. The connection was virtually instant.

"We obviously did a lot of background work on Alex and what helped us was that we had a lot of mutual connections through the previous stops where he'd played," Mills told ABC Sport.

"We had quite a few people he'd worked with and were very familiar with his agency, WME.

"Once we got on the call with him and talked to he and his parents about the opportunity we have here in Perth, the city itself, the set-up where they would live, where we saw him fitting in for the year he would be here, I think they felt very comfortable that it was the best next step for them.

"He lived with them in Scarborough and they absolutely fell in love with the city. I was speaking to them the other night here and they're super excited to get back and to continue to visit Perth and to make it a second home. It helped that our season is over the summer, so the weather was really good."

"He was happy with what they presented in terms of a development plan, he felt good chemistry with organisation and the coaching staff and we advanced the process from there," Santamaria added.

"It was pretty smooth and it actually moved quickly once he got comfortable."

Sarr's maturity stands out alongside incredible physical attributes

Having selected the NBL's most successful franchise, Sarr needed to find a way to fit into what the Wildcats already had going.

They had won titles in 2019 and 2020 and one of Sarr's teammates would be the eventual league MVP, Bryce Cotton.

Immediately, the team was moved by the 19-year-old's maturity and willingness to both work within the team's structure and to learn from his older, more experienced teammates.

"He was a teenager playing in the NBL … but he's got an old, mature head on his shoulders," Santamaria said.

"He comes from a great support network within his family, his parents, his older brother, who has NBA experience. He is mature, quiet, but a very friendly and intelligent young man.

"[His personality] was a key component of how successful a season he had with the Perth Wildcats, because he is humble and he assimilated really smoothly into his team in the NBL.

"He recognised the fact that there were already high-level players and veterans on that team, he showed them the requisite amount of respect and he worked hard for every one of his opportunities, that really helped to create chemistry within his team at the Wildcats and helped him have a really successful season."

Mills believes Sarr's unique path having spent his formative years in multiple countries has allowed for him to develop a level of maturity that is uncommon for a player of his age.

"He's just turned 19, but he is very humble, motivated and driven individual, and I think the most unique thing about him is he's come from a fantastic upbringing with his parents and he's had a mentor in his brother Olivier who has kind of forged the path for him and gone to big colleges in the US and then got to the NBA, that is a great mentor that he would speak to daily," he said.

"His path to get to where he's getting drafted … it's a very unique path but it's one that has worked well for him and plays to his advantage."

Mills was also full of praise for Rillie and the rest of the Wildcats coaching staff for putting Sarr in positions to be successful in his season with Perth.

"It speaks to our coaches … and how they were able to incorporate Alex into our program and have him play rotational minutes while continuing to have success as a team. It was huge and it doesn't always go that way with young prospects," he said.

"You've got to give them a bit more rope so they can make mistakes and learn through it, but at our level, it's about wins, especially for a club like Perth, we have a mandate to win.

"The fact that we were able to combine having the league MVP in Bryce Cotton and the number two draft pick on the same roster and still have a successful season was really impressive.

"It speaks to our coaches that they were able to put him positions to be successful, but also to Alex, with the way he stepped in.

"He wasn't promised anything from day one. He wasn't promised any starting minutes or whatever, he earned everything he got, and he earned the trust of his teammates very quickly.

"He listened to all the veterans and was very receptive to coaching, all those traits that great players have in their formative years, he definitely has them."

Looking to the future as Sarr heads to Washington

Having been taken second overall by the Washington Wizards, Sarr is the centrepiece of the struggling franchise's rebuild. Mills hopes Washington will be patient with the young man and the inevitable growing pains that will come in the NBA.

"There is going to be huge expectations, not just internally but more so externally, so if you're a top pick the expectation is you've got to be a franchise-changer and an All-Star, and it's not always the case," he said.

"Obviously, Alex has the ceiling to be that, but it's going to take a lot of time and there's going to be a lot of losing at the start. There will be a lot of challenges, but you want him to be embraced by that program, the coaches to be invested in him.

"As much as it's amazing to get drafted ... it's about staying in the NBA. It's not about your first contract, it's about your second and third and how long you can be an impactful player."

Despite his call for patience, Mills believes the Wizards have landed the ideal modern-day big in drafting Sarr with the second pick.

"He's got elite size, athleticism for an NBA big," he said.

"He is a very good athlete and very versatile and agile for his size, that's the first thing that stands out.

"He's only just turned 19, so his frame is still developing, he's got another three or four years of natural growth let alone the NBA strength and conditioning, which will put him in a different category.

"Defensively, he's got incredible switchability — he's able to switch out onto smaller, quicker guards and keep them in front — and he's also got really good instincts as a rim protector that can roam the court and impact with his size and length. That was evident from day one with us in the NBL, which was unique for a kid at 18 to come in and make an impact right away.

"Offensively, he's kind of a blank canvas. He is versatile, he can step out and shoot threes — I think that'll develop over time — and that's definitely where the modern game is played with bigs that can step out and stretch the floor, creating driving lanes for others to get downhill.

"He's got a really high basketball IQ, a good feel, he's obviously been coached well and that side of the game will evolve.

"At his size and what he can do, you put him on the floor and he makes smart plays, he's not a selfish player, and all of those things lead to a prospect that you can develop over the next three or four years in an NBA program, and the sky is the limit for him."

The signs are good early for the Sarr camp. The Wizards, understanding that life as a young big man in the league can be tough, have already added veteran centre Jonas Valanciunas on a three-year deal.

Valanciunas will all but certainly start the season as the Wizards' full-time centre, allowing the team to bring Sarr along slowly, with the pair likely to share some minutes on the court together with Sarr at the power forward slot.

The Wizards will hope that Sarr eventually becomes a big man that transforms the fortunes of the fallen franchise. If that happens, not only will it be a big win for Washington, but it will be another major tick for the NBL as a truly legitimate league in world basketball.