On Wednesday, the Washington Wizards were busy on draft night.
First, with the second pick, they selected Alex Sarr from the Perth Wildcats of the Australian NBL.
Next, the team also agreed in principle to acquire the draft rights to Pittsburgh guard Bub Carrington, the 14th overall pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, from the Portland Trail Blazers in a trade that is expected to be finalized at a later date and acquired the draft rights to Kyshawn George, the 24th overall pick of the 2024 NBA Draft from the New York Knicks.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Washington Wizards are trading F Deni Avdija to the Portland Trail Blazers for Malcolm Brogdon, the 14th pick(Carrington), and a 2029 pick.
Last season, Avdija, who the Wizards selected with the ninth pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, averaged 14.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per contest.
Sarr, who is from Bordeaux, France, spent the 2023-24 season with the Perth Wildcats as part of the NBL’s Next Stars program. In 27 league games, the 19-year-old averaged 9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks in 17.3 minutes per game.
There has been a lot of talent coming out of France. Last season, the Spurs selected Victor Wembanyama of France with the number one pick. This season, the Hawks selected Frenchman Zaccharie Risacher at number one, and Sarr goes second to Washington. In addition, Washington took France’s Bilal Coulibaly with the seventh pick in 2023.
Sarr says there’s a lot of talent coming out of France.
“It just shows the amount of talent that we have in France,” Sarr said. “I’m really excited for Zacc. I think our national team is really going to be good.”
Last season, the Wizards struggled as a team and were near the bottom of the standings; however, despite their struggles, Sarr, whose older brother Olivier plays for the OKC Thunder, is excited to join the franchise and believes he can be a consistent contributor.
“I’m just excited to join this team,” Sarr said. “It’s a team that I watched a lot this past year. I think I can be really impactful on that team, and I can’t wait to add my game to the roster.”
The 6-4 Carrington appeared in 33 games for the Panthers (all starts), recording averages of 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. The 18-year-old earned 2023-24 ACC All-Freshman honors after being the only freshman in the nation to average at least 13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game.
The Baltimore native is excited to play close to home.
“It means a lot,” he said. “Definitely because I would say when I was younger, I wasn’t really like that in my area, and to now be sort of that guy that people want to see, especially being from the area and now (back) in the area. It means a lot to finally see all the stuff that I’ve done come to light.”
The 6-8 George, out of Miami (FL), played in 30 games as a freshman for the Hurricanes, starting in 16 and posting averages of 7.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game while shooting .426 from the floor and .408 from beyond the arc. The 20-year-old was the only ACC freshman to average 7.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, while playing less than 25.0 minutes per game last season.
George believe he’ll fit well in D.C.
“I think I can bring a lot to this team with my versatility, my size, my length, my IQ, and my shooting ability,” he said. “I think I will fit in very well.”
Washington will have one more selection on Thursday, which is the 51st overall pick(second round).
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