Alex Sarr’s upside is obvious. So is the risk Washington is taking by putting him on the floor right away.
When he’s right, Sarr looks like the kind of big the Wizards have almost never had: a 2024 first-round pick who can score in a variety of ways, run the floor hard, knock down shots more consistently, and make his biggest impact on defense. He’s a switchable rim protector with the kind of versatility that can bend matchups.
The talent is real. The problem is staying available long enough to let it show.
That has been the hurdle from the start. Sarr missed 32 games last season because of a toe injury, and this June he suffered a fractured foot during offseason training.
Now, according to Washington general manager Will Dawkins, he should be ready for opening night. But “should be” is doing a lot of work there.
A player coming off back-to-back injuries does not get much time to rebuild conditioning and get back into game shape.
That’s why the decision to have him available immediately feels like a gamble, and probably not a necessary one.
Washington’s bigger picture does not call for urgency. The organization has spent the offseason talking about a climb toward competitiveness in 2026-27, with stars Anthony Davis and Trae Young returning and optimism around the young core.
But after one of the worst seasons in NBA history just months ago, the expectations remain modest. Dawkins said on Sept. 24 that the team wants to “take meaningful strides as an organization towards building towards sustained success” and “chip away” at being competitive.
That doesn’t sound like a team chasing a title or even pushing all its chips toward the postseason. It sounds like a group focused on development.
In that context, rushing Sarr back on opening night makes little sense. If the foot is truly healed, fine.
But there’s no harm in easing him in over a few weeks instead of demanding full speed immediately after a long layoff.
The other concern is built into Sarr’s frame. At seven feet and 205 pounds, he is far leaner than other big men of similar size such as Kristaps Porzingis, who is listed at 7’2 and 240 pounds, and Rudy Gobert, who is listed at 7’1 and 258 pounds.
The closest size comparison in the source is Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who stands 7’1 and 208 pounds. Holmgren’s injury history is well known, including a Lisfranc injury that wiped out his rookie season and a pelvic fracture in 2024 that cost him 50 games.
The point is not that Sarr and Holmgren are the same player. They aren’t. The point is that lighter bigs can take more punishment around the basket, and that can raise the injury danger, especially for someone just coming back from a foot issue.
The opening stretch won’t exactly be gentle, either. In the first two weeks, the Wizards are set to see Evan Mobley, Paolo Banchero, and Bulls rookie Caleb Wilson. Those are tough interior matchups for any young big, let alone one trying to return from injury.
Nobody is questioning the excitement around Sarr. He has the look of a breakout player. But Washington’s smartest move is also the simplest one: slow down, protect the asset, and avoid creating a bigger problem than the one it’s trying to solve.
For this season and beyond, caution is the better call.
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Anthony Davis Just Put Serious Pressure On The Wizards
Anthony Davis has put the Wizards in a familiar kind of bind, with the season now carrying real implications for how long he stays in Washington. The team is already weighing the need for clarity on his future against the reality of a market that could change quickly, and the front office does not have the luxury of letting the situation drift too deep into the winter.
The pressure is only going to rise as the February trade deadline approaches, because Washington has to sort out whether Davis is part of its long-term plan or a piece to move before the clock gets tighter. There is still plenty of discussion to be had around his next step and the possibilities on the trade market, but the Wizards need a direction before the uncertainty starts to shape the rest of the roster around him. [Read more 🡒]