Will Alex Sarr’s big bro bounce back in Toronto?
The following is part of Raptors Republic’s series of pieces previewing the season for the Toronto Raptors. You can find all the pieces in the series here.
The hero of the Trojan War, Achilles, was killed by an arrow that struck his heel. Before OKC won the Larry O’Brien this year, Olivier Sarr helped their G League affiliate, OKC Blue, win the chip in 2024. But an Achilles rupture in the third quarter of Game 3 (the final game) forced Sarr off the court, after notching a ten-point, team-high 13-rebound double-double.
Sarr is currently on an Exhibit-10 deal. He was once a part of Sam Presti’s process, part of a fledgling OKC squad. Players, however, are not the same after an Achilles injury. Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton, Dejounte Murray, and Dame Lillard may never be who they were pre-injury, but unlike them, Sarr doesn’t have – and has never had – NBA job security. He has never been more than a two-way player, so the question remains: how will he bounce back after being sidelined for an entire season?
Will he be a flash in the Toronto pan or a 905er? If he doesn’t stick in the NBA, this could be his last stop before EuroLeague. But we’d hope for more than that. The best case scenario is this: Sarr, once again, gets a glimpse of an NBA hardwood as the Raptors overachieve and surprise the U.S. media. There’s the possibility of him getting into a handful of games, emerging out of the shadow of his younger brother and as an undrafted centre from the same draft class as Mamu’s.
According to Blake Murphy, “The 15th roster spot is probably (right now) looking like Lawson [who is currently on a non-guaranteed deal] OR [the Raptors] keep it open until January to save on some luxury tax stuff.”
The prospect of Sarr’s contract being upgraded depends not only on his performance, but also on how two-ways like Chucky Hepburn or Alijah Martin do. “They don’t want to risk losing [Sarr] like Branden Carlson last year,” Murphy wrote via e-mail. He also suggested that the other option would be for the Raptors to sign him as an Affiliate Player and send him to the 905 if he doesn’t get claimed. If Jamison Battle flipped his Exhibit-10 deal into a two-way before the start of the 2024-25 season, a pathway for Sarr exists.
Based on the two games I watched of him – one from the 2023-24 pre-season and the other from the regular season, both against the Detroit Pistons – what stood out immediately was his length (he covers tons of ground) and athleticism. In the 2023-24 season, 58% of his shots came within three feet of the basket.
He had athletic bursts out of the screens he set, and can throw it down after rolling to the rim. On one particular play, Shai got blitzed by Jaden Ivey and Marvin Bagley III as Sarr set a screen. Shai passed the ball out of the blitz, into him in the low post. Sarr immediately recognized the help coming and dished it to Isaiah Joe in the weakside corner for an easy 3.
At times, Sarr would stay in the corner in a lineup with Lu Dort, Davis Bertans, Isaiah Joe, and Shai. I wondered whether this was to take bigs out of the lane, and by his third year, Sarr proved that he can hit open above-the-break catch-and-shoot 3s. He attempted more 3s in his rookie year (29) than in his last two years combined (14 attempts). In his rookie year, he shot 3-pointers at a 45% clip on 1.3 attempts per game. If he can have a similar impact on this squad, it’ll make it easier for guards and wings to get downhill.
Sarr is also very mobile on the defensive end too – I got excited at the possibility of him being able to switch out to the perimeter and play serviceable defence. He was called for goaltending as he tried to block Ivey, but on the ensuing defensive possession, Sarr got his hips into Ivey’s driving lane and made him miss.
Defensively, he was a nightmare on Cade Cunningham. Sarr had two of his three blocks on Cade: the first was a chase-down I’m-gonna-break-the-glass block as the latter attempted a transition lay-up and the second one was even more impressive. Sarr initially played drop on pick-and-roll coverage, and picked up Bagley as he got deeper into the paint. He quickly stepped up to help and rejected Cade again. Sarr also played Cade straight up in the paint and forced a bad miss.
Sarr’s interior defence continued to impress in other ways. He came out to guard Ausar Thompson in the short corner, and as the latter attacked the paint, Sarr staying on him set up Dort to mug him in the paint.
How will his Achilles rupture impact his ability to be a lob threat, his athleticism, mobility, defensive switchability, confidence, etc.? Will the injury change his tendency to be foul-prone defensively, his proclivity to block attempt anything that comes inside? Will the injury force him to play more conservative but smarter defence? We will have to wait and see.
But let’s hope this is not the end of his short NBA career. And instead, the Raptors’ player development system – once the envy of the basketball world – will take the proverbial arrow out of Sarr’s heel, and dip him into the River Styx (or the Humber River or Credit River) to become a serviceable NBA big, immunized from playing in (for now) EuroLeague or the CBA.
He had the dedication and work ethic to put on over 50 pounds in college to fill out his body after he hit a growth spurt in high school. Commentators have mentioned how “thoughtful” and “mature” a person Sarr is on broadcasts. His potential post-injury is riddled with question marks, but kudos to the Raptors for taking a chance on him – whether he reciprocates in Toronto or Sauga remains to be seen.
The post Will Alex Sarr’s big bro bounce back in Toronto? first appeared on Raptors Republic.