[OhCanada-Participant]

This years surprise star of the Nike Hoop Summit was Italian International Dame Sarr. He scored 17 points for the World team and measured 6’7.5 with a 6’11.75 wingspan. Sarr is aguard/ wing that plays for Barcelona in the ACB mostly as an off ball shooter but he also showed great cutting and slashing skills at the Hoop Summit and is extremely quick for his size. In very limited minutes with Barca he averaged 54% FG and 45% 3PT which is extremely difficult to do without an establishe role.

So heres the thing. Sarr requested to leave Barca for a week and play in the Hoop Summit and they refused to let him go and play. But he went anyways haha and he had a great showing. The official statement from Barca said he was too important to the team as they have been giving him an increased role lately.

I’m not sure what the next step will be for Sarr. He is turning 19 in June so he is eligible for the draft. He is also being heavily recruited by Illinois but clearly his options at the College level will not be limited to just Illinois. I’m not sure if Barca will have him return with just a slap on the wrist. I do think if he enters the draft he has a chance to go as high as late lottery. He would defenitely go higher than Real Madrid’s Hugo Gonzalez as he has played better, is more athletis, taller and younger and Hugo seems to be a lock for the 20-30 range in most mocks.

He reminds me a bit of Andrew Wiggins, really at first glance just watching his BArca highlights he reminded me of Reggie Miller. Dame Sarr could be this years late riser I wouldn’t mind Toronto considering him at 7-9.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Wiggins could probably be a good comp if he maximizes his potential. Not sure whether or not he’s better than Gonzalez… Actually it’d probably benefit both to declare next season, but we’ll see… Maybe Jazz P knows something I don’t about Sarr… He had him pretty high in a mock and I was scratching my head over it… He did look good at Hoop Summit.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Yeah your right. See I forgot where I heard about him and sure enough he’s been mentioning him in pretty much all his mocks this year.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

AJ looked better this game than the McDonald’s game… Harwell’s going to be a problem for teams. Sarr could be a good prospect, just think he might need another year. Maybe I’m wrong though. He was a standout in Hoop Summit.

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

It has been a weird year for him. He was buried early in the year. He was supposed to go on loan to Italy, but that fell through. Injuries to Justin Anderson and then Alex Abrines opened up minutes for him. He gets six games where he is on the court long enough to break a sweat and does ok. Nothing in his history would lead one to believe his six game stretch of hitting threes means he will continue to be a knockdown shooter, but it is better to get hot than not. He then leaves Barca to play in the Hoop Summit, which is a lightly coached one-off game that has elevated the draft stocks of a lot of international players who don’t have much of a body of work. If his relationship with Barca is ruined, then he will probably enter and stick. Taking a guy with 250 minutes of pro level ball is always a risk, but the NBA is willing to miss on the young 6’7″ with a big wingspan crowd.

[OhCanada-Participant]

He’ can play off the ball he’s got a 7’0 wimgspan and a 35 inch verticle and he’s shooting 45% from three in the ACB at 18 years old. He’s a 1st round pick whenever he enters. He could defenitely go back to school and put on some weight, get some reps in a higher usage role but I think he could also go pro.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

I hope he goes to Georgetown or Louisville.

[HitsterParticipant]

Sarr has played 250 more minutes pro ball than most of the college guys. I’d say he enters and would be snapped up well in the first round. Spurs always look at European guys, Brooklyn have all those picks, Magic like guys of his dimensions and have two two first rounders, Washington have a later first rounder after their high pick. So lots of possible landing spaces,

Does anyone know what his Barca contract is as I’d figure they would have a release clause as all the football players they sign have to have release fees. Plus if he’s defied them to play in this Junior all star exhibition game they will want to cash in on him if he’s attracted suitors.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

While true, I’d take Essengue definitively ahead of Sarr, not sure how high Sarr would go if he declared but Essengue is in that Lottery to 20s at the lowest range. Sarr has upside, but not sure if he’s more like Hamad Mousa or Will Riley… (both guys were co-MVPs for Adidas last year) As we know Will Riley had an up and down season that eventually went well. Hamad Mousa though only cracked a few minutes a game for Dayton… If someone spent a first rounder this year on Sarr, my opinion is he could make the league, but wouldn’t be effective for 2-3 years… maybe the impact (not comp) of AJ Johnson… The first round of this draft is rounding out to look pretty good atm. Sarr has some good upside though, any decision wouldn’t be bad… but a season in college could do him some wonders imo.

[HitsterParticipant]

It all depends on do you draft on upside or wanting an immediate return could be like say Johni Broome against Thiam.

Guys like Sarr need playing time also like Zikarsky and when they are in tough pro leagues if they don’t get the minutes they cannot develop or they have to go out on loan possibly. But a year or two in the NCAA which is a far better quality than some pro leagues but not as tough as the top European Leagues could be the right option.

Players who have played pro now have the college option since the rule change and colleges may look at them as an option as they cannot get such big NIL deals being non US guys. The college can get a player of an equal level it would cost a lot of NIl money to get a US guy of the same level. They can then spend their NIL budget across the rest of their team.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Exactly, that’s the point… Schools now can pump out NIL money to Sarr and he can get a good pay day. If he goes to the league, he isn’t guaranteed to be a top 20 prospect. It’s a definite maybe and a hot name right now though. If he goes say 31st – ouch! If I’m Sarr I get paid bank to go to college and ball out for a year or 2 at the most. If I’m Sarr, it would have to be a lottery promise to get me to declare with some initiative to be eager to play him somehow… Otherwise it actually makes more sense to go to college, work on his game more and be an even better legit player and prospect. I gotta say though, Hoop Summit changed my mind a little bit about him as a prospect though – he has more promise than I previously thought.

[HitsterParticipant]

With Dame Sarr it is about playing time more than anything. If he is only getting 12mog for Barca in the ACB and just 5mpg in the Euro league then he’d be right at the end of the NBA bench or in the G-League. Ideally he’d get better playing time in ACB but with the pressure to win games unless a player is elite they want proven guys to play the major minutes.

Going to college Sarr should get solid minutes in rotation, I’m taking 20 mpg min. Doesn’t matter whether he starts or not but he gets a platform to play. If he doesn’t make it in the NBA he’ll likely be good enough to return to ACB or a major Euro League so would have that safety net.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

He seems like an NBA talent… just down the line to me…

[OhCanada-Participant]

Well I think this is a rare time where we are gonna have to disagree which is refreshing. This isn’t an unproven player. Its not his fault he hasn’t gotten minutes, and he has cracked the rotation thats something that Egor Demin and Kasparus Jakucoinus were not able to do. In fact Kasparus and Sarr played for the same team the year before and he could not even get on the court.

Meanwhile Sarr’s last 5 ACB games he averaged 20 minutes per, 12.5 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists while shootign 65% and 50% from three. I’d even argue if Kasparas was still on that Barca team he would not have cracked the rotation because of his tendancy to take contested stepback jumpshots and how turnover prone he is.

On a team like Barcelona 20 mpg is alot. Jabari Parker was their leading scorer on Sunday and he played 22 minutes. European basketball is very different. Its a much slower and deliberate game. Theres less space, possessions are longer and the games are 40 minutes instead of 48. In the NBA Sarr would get minutes for development but on a team like Barcelona they aren’t giving players “development” minutes. Those last 5 ACB games he played were because they needed him to win.

Anyways I think whether he goes to college or not he should be fine. Next years draft looks to be loaded though and I don’t think he goes any higher in next years draft than he would in this years, Theres a lot of information suggesting he maybe considered a better prospect than Jakucionis but only time will tell.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Interesting takes, you could be right… and also Jazz P maybe about him the whole time… I do like him as a prospect, like his upside and all… Illinois or somebody would look great with him too…

[HitsterParticipant]

The ACB and EuroLeague style of play is probably more similar to NCAA than the NBA with the slower pace and more defensive minded style.

Dame I’ll slot him into my draft if he does declare. I’d likely have him a first rounder on upside compared to some college senior or junior who has had one good season and is 2 or 3 years older.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Dame Sarr officially leaves Barcelona to prepare for the draft. This is an official translated statement from Barca.

“Dame Sarr will not be part of the Barca roster for the rest of the 2024-25 season.The club and the player have reached a mutual agreement so that he can focus on his sporting future, with an eye on making the leap to the NBA.”

[OhCanada-Participant]

So apparently Dame Sarr and Illinois had a deal in place but Sarr has reopened negotiations because obviously his price point has increased. So it seems what Hitster suggested the other day is currently playing out now. Sarr had a deal in place with Illinois but didnt sign, boosted his stock, will enter the draft and see his range and go back to Illinois/Kentucky/BYU and create a bidding war it seems.

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