Predicting Every NBA Team's Best Player 3 Years From Now
More than ever, the NBA is defined by unpredictability.
We've had seven different champions over the last seven years, superstars change locations more often than ever and the apron era is accelerating the teardown/rebuild cycle like never before.
That constant state of change makes every season compelling, but it also makes forecasting the future difficult. We'll do our best as we look ahead to 2028-29, a full three years from now, and try to determine who'll be the top player on every team.
Two rules will help keep things from getting too speculative. First, the player has to be on the team right now. That way, we don't have to get too deep into the weeds by predicting future trade acquisitions or draft picks. Second, we won't cop out by using some version of "he's not on the team yet" or "TBD."
Because where's the fun in that?
Atlanta Hawks: Jalen Johnson
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Johnson landing here requires a few assumptions. The first is that Trae Young won't begin the 2028-29 campaign with the Atlanta Hawks. He's only under contract through next season, and the All-Star point guard hasn't been a stranger to trade talk during his career.
Another assumption: Zaccharie Risacher's billing as an excellent role player whose skills don't suggest stardom will prove accurate.
That leaves Johnson, a wildly athletic forward who, unlike Risacher and Young, is actually under contract for 2028-29. That helps his case, as does last year's pre-injury production of 18.9 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists. If the 35.5 percent three-point shooting Johnson flashed in 2023-24 returns this coming season, an All-Star trip could be in the cards.
By 2028, Johnson will be 27, smack in the middle of his prime and earning just $30 million.
Boston Celtics: Jayson Tatum
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Jayson Tatum will miss all of 2025-26, and recent history suggests his Achilles tear could prevent him from looking like his best self until later in the 2026-27 campaign. That's going to feel like an eternity for Boston Celtics fans, but by 2028 Tatum might be back in championship-pursuit mode.
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, like Tatum, will be under contract in three years. This is a bet that Tatum, the superior player prior to injury, will still be better than both once he's recovered.
A six-time All-Star with four straight All-NBA first-team honors prior to last postseason's injury, Tatum has the deep shooting range, size and well-developed all-around game to regain his form. He'll only be 30 in 2028-29. With the way superstars are aging these days, Tatum might have another 5-7 great years in him at that point.
Brooklyn Nets: Danny Wolf
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Egor Demin was the first rookie off the board in the Brooklyn Nets' busy first round, during which they added a whopping five players to the roster. That gives the oversized point guard good odds of emerging as the best of the group, but Danny Wolf's higher-risk, higher-reward profile earns him the nod here.
Wolf is a true 7-footer with an intriguing face-up game, a smooth outside stroke, great feet and the ability to score from a variety of areas. The Michigan product proved he could run pick-and-roll sets as a ball-handler in college, and there's a chance he operates as a hub for a Nets team that will be searching for playmakers wherever it can find them.
He averaged 13.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 blocks for the Wolverines.
Defensively, Wolf showed some ability to function as a center during Summer League. It's still probably wisest to view him as a skilled forward instead of a full-time 5 who defends the rim, but players like Alperen Sengün offer a blueprint the rookie could follow.
Charlotte Hornets: Brandon Miller
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With apologies to Tidjane Salaün and Kon Kneuppel, the Charlotte Hornets really only have two options here: LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. Choosing Miller feels risky given Ball's superior track record to this point. The 24-year-old point guard has made an All-Star team and occupies a different role than Miller in that Ball is a valuable offensive catalyst, while Miller is more of a secondary threat.
This is a bet that at some point in the next three seasons, Charlotte will have tired of Ball's sporadic availability and/or determined he's not leadership material. Lately, the Hornets have pivoted away from chasing Play-In spots, so we should assume they're willing to take a step back in the interest of long-term gains.
That could include trading Ball for picks and prospects, and it's worth noting that he'll be an expiring contract (unless Charlotte extends him) in 2028-29.
Miller is no sure thing, but he's younger, cheaper and has more of a runway to prove he can be a fixture whenever the Hornets are ready to ramp up to serious playoff pursuit.
Chicago Bulls: Matas Buzelis
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Even if Matas Buzelis hadn't broken out in the second half of last season, he probably still would have been the pick for the Chicago Bulls.
Early in the year, when Buzelis was struggling to earn consistent rotation minutes, he flashed enough athletic punch and competitive fire to suggest something exciting was inside him waiting to bust loose.
After the All-Star break, Buzelis became a full-time starter. The promotion agreed with him.
Averages of 13.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists tell some of the story, but it was Buzelis' aggression and surprising facility as an on-ball attacker that opened eyes widest. It also didn't hurt that he hit 36.1 percent of his threes on significantly increased volume.
Just scratching the surface of his game, the 6'10" forward has plenty of room to grow into a key role in Chicago. He'll only be in his age-24 season three years from now.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Evan Mobley
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Between now and the start of the 2028-29 season, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have some difficult financial decisions to make. Rest assured Evan Mobley won't be among them.
The superstar big man arrived in 2024-25, winning Defensive Player of the Year while making his biggest gains on the offensive end. The debut of a punishing downhill game turned Mobley into an overpowering driver and finisher, and he also nearly tripled his three-point volume while losing virtually nothing in the efficiency department.
So as the Cavs try to keep a contender together while tangling with what could be the league's largest tax bill as soon as next season, they won't give even a split-second's thought to including Mobley in any potential salary-trimming moves.
Even if Donovan Mitchell is still on the roster in three years, Mobley will have long since surpassed him as the Cavaliers' alpha. In fact, there's a case to be made that that's already happened.
Dallas Mavericks: Cooper Flagg
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If we limit the scope of candidates to those that are actually under contract in 2028-29, the Dallas Mavericks only have two. Let's just say something very strange will have happened if Daniel Gafford grades out as a better player than Cooper Flagg in 2028-29.
Anthony Davis (32) and a healthy Kyrie Irving (33) are both better players than Flagg today, but those two will suffer serious age-related decline in three years. Flagg, about to begin his rookie season as an 18-year-old, won't even have sniffed his early prime by then.
It's risky to pick a player whose jack-of-all-trades scouting report implies he's not alpha material, but who's to say Flagg won't prove his billing wrong? Anyone who projects as a superstar on defense and is known for his unsurpassed competitiveness is a good bet to beat expectations.
Flagg's floor is extremely high, but everyone is underselling his ceiling. In three years' time, he will have proved himself capable of handling top-option duties.
Denver Nuggets: Nikola Jokić
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It's not going to happen because his game is too polished, his mind is too sharp and his dominance has almost nothing to do with elite run-and-jump athleticism, but Nikola Jokić could decline precipitously over the next three years and still rate as the Denver Nuggets' best player by a mile.
Let's say he regresses to the point where he was in 2016-17, the last year he wasn't a full-time starter. That season, Jokić averaged 16.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists while producing a 4.8 Value Over Replacement Player figure that ranked 16th in the league. That version of Jokić is still an All-NBA-caliber star.
Frame it this way: If Jokić isn't still the Nuggets' top man in three years, it'll be because he decided to retire.
Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham
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Cade Cunningham's ascent has only just begun.
Last season, the former No. 1 pick arrived as an All-Star, All-NBA third-teamer and seventh-place finisher in MVP voting as he led the Detroit Pistons to 44 wins—tied for the franchise's highest total since 2008.
Cunningham's development as a facilitator, three-point shooter and foul merchant produced career highs of 26.1 points, 9.1 assists, 2.1 made triples and 4.5 made free throws per game.
The upcoming season will be the ball-handling wing's age-24 campaign. Why would any of those averages trend down as Cunningham heads into his prime?
It's possible the progress of Detroit's other young pieces will allow Cunningham to throttle back his scoring. But even in that scenario, we should expect an uptick in assist rate and a decline in turnovers as Cunningham utilizes improved spacing and supplementary scoring around him.
Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry
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Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler and Steve Kerr will probably all be gone at this time in 2028. Their contracts sync up to expire after the 2026-27 season, at which point a turning of the page in Golden State seems likely.
But what if Curry is still an All-NBA player in three years?
Stranger things have happened. And though Steph would be entering his age-40 season in three years, long-time rival LeBron James is proving success is sustainable at that age. Plus, it's not like the Dubs are teeming with prospects.
Jonathan Kuminga would have once been the pick here, but the current contract stalemate makes it impossible to imagine him in a Warriors uniform beyond the 2025-26 season. Brandin Podziemski is the other possibility, but he has yet to prove he's a clear future starter, let alone best-player-on-a-team material.
If Curry's still around, he's got a great shot to be Golden State's most effective player. That says a lot about him, but it also speaks to the Warriors' uncertain future.
Houston Rockets: Amen Thompson
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Alperen Sengün could make another All-Star appearance or two by 2028. Jabari Smith Jr. might become a legitimate stretch-5 who can also beat his man in isolation. Reed Sheppard may deliver on his pre-draft promise and emerge as a star two-way point guard.
Amen Thompson still has a higher ceiling than all of them.
Defensively, Thompson is already as good as it gets on the perimeter. His lateral quickness and predatory instincts are unfair in a 6'8" frame that seems to be made up of equal parts fast-twitch muscle fiber and coiled springs. Stopping power like his, which was good enough in his second season to make an All-Defensive first team, will pair nicely with elite rebounding, strikingly good facilitation and the ability to pile up points in transition.
Assuming Thompson grows as a shooter and half-court offensive threat, he's poised to become one of the game's top two-way players sooner than later. If he stalls out on offense, he'll still have a case on the strength of what could be the best all-around defensive game in the league.
Indiana Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton
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Everybody freaked out about Tyrese Haliburton's rough first half last season, and it's true the Indiana Pacers point guard wasn't at his best as he continued his recovery from a serious hamstring injury. But even that diminished version of Haliburton put up 17.8 points and 8.5 assists on a 58.9 true shooting percentage while also setting the tone for one of the top offenses in the league.
That's all to say Haliburton could lose a step or two once he's back from his current Achilles injury and still grade out as a star-level offensive engine.
It's dangerous to put faith in a player coming off one of the most dreaded injuries a basketball player can suffer, but Haliburton's processing speed and preternatural unselfishness should be totally unaffected by his Achilles. By 2028-29, he'll have two post-injury years under his belt and should be as close to top form as he's going to get.
Maybe he'll be a beat slower off the dribble, but Hali will remain an elite shooter with a brilliant offensive mind. Odds are, he'll be right back to his old ways of keeping the ball hopping and threatening for the league lead in assists.
LA Clippers: Ivica Zubac
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James Harden and Kawhi Leonard are both in their mid-30s as it is, and it doesn't seem like a coincidence that their contracts conclude after 2026-27. Even if the LA Clippers re-up with both of them, it wouldn't be reasonable to expect a pair of injury-prone fading stars to lead the team by 2028.
Ivica Zubac inked an extension last summer that already rates as a bargain following his career effort in 2024-25. He'll be in his early 30s three years from now, which could produce modest declines in his numbers, but Zubac is still a better pick to maintain his current level than any of his teammates.
Last season, Zubac put up 16.8 points and 12.6 boards while providing interior defense good enough to earn a sixth-place finish in DPOY voting. Better still, he logged 80 games and actually grew stronger down the stretch. Zubac's best month was April, during which he averaged 19.9 points, 13.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting a ridiculous 69.7 percent from the field.
Los Angeles Lakers: Luka Dončić
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We may have already seen the best of Luka Dončić—both because it's very hard to play better than he did at his peak, and also because the health and conditioning concerns that contributed to his Dallas exit will persist until he proves they were overblown.
Coming off a 50-game season that was the first of his career without a major award or All-NBA first-team nod, Dončić has work to do.
The good news for him and for Los Angeles Lakers fans is that he's still only 26 and should be as motivated as ever. If all Dončić does is return to the form he showed during a five-season stretch in Dallas that saw him finish no worse than eighth in MVP voting, he'll be a worthy leader in L.A.
The real question in 2028 will be whether the Lakers have managed to find a better running mate for Dončić than LeBron James who, even as he enters his age-41 season, might still be hard to top.
Memphis Grizzlies: Jaren Jackson Jr.
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Ja Morant is actually a couple of months older than Jaren Jackson Jr., so it's not as if the Memphis Grizzlies point guard has any age-related advantages when it comes to projecting his impact in three years. If anything, Morant's dependence on athleticism and failure to establish himself as a reliable three-point shooter suggest slippage is much closer for him than it is for JJJ.
Jackson's mobility and shot-blocking earned him Defensive Player of the Year in 2022-23, and he's been among the top seven in voting two other times. There's little reason to believe he'll lose the length, timing and speed that produced those achievements.
An ever-evolving offensive game that saw Jackson increase his points-per-36-minutes average across each of the last four seasons is also a positive. He topped out at 26.8 last year while also finishing as the only big man in the league with at least 145 made threes and 300 made free throws.
Where Morant has failed to add layers to his game, Jackson has consistently succeeded. That makes it easier to imagine further growth, or at least continuation of the status quo.
Miami Heat: Bam Adebayo
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It speaks to the Miami Heat's core problem that Bam Adebayo is a pretty easy choice here. An elite defensive big whose passing offsets a lack of stretch on offense, Adebayo has proved himself as the second-best player on a Finals team.
Based on his track record, you can't argue he's capable of being more than that.
The Heat will certainly try to find a true superstar to put ahead of Adebayo on the depth chart, but they have yet to replace Jimmy Butler in that role and will struggle to have the best offer whenever the next top option becomes available.
That leaves Adebayo, who'll be 31 at the start of 2028-29, as the default choice.
Miami won't be happy if that's how things play out in reality, and Adebayo probably won't love it either. His game isn't suited for leading-scorer or offensive alpha duties.
Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo
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Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn't always been the best at tamping down speculation about him leaving the Milwaukee Bucks, but the two-time MVP is entering his 13th season with the team. The longer that run gets, the harder it'll be to end it.
Even if the vast majority of superstars eventually play for a team other than the one that drafted them, we still see the occasional one-team icon start and finish his career in the same spot.
Maybe Antetokounmpo will be next in line after Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant.
If forced to bet, you should still lay money on Giannis playing elsewhere within the next three years. But if he's gone, Myles Turner probably is, too. And when you scan the rest of the potential options on Milwaukee's roster, there isn't a single player you'd project to definitely still be there in 2028, let alone someone who profiles as a "best player" type.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards
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Anthony Edwards is nowhere near fully formed and still subject to the give-and-take that attends early skill development. Case in point: Ant added previously unthinkable three-point volume to his game last season, ultimately leading the league with 320 made treys and 811 attempts.
All those added shots came with career-best 39.5 percent long-range accuracy, which is generally not how the volume/efficiency tradeoff works. However, Edwards also saw his rim-attempt frequency nosedive, and his finishing around the basket was actually worse in 2024-25 than it was in 2023-24. Unsurprisingly, a game that featured more deep shots than close-range attacks also produced a lower free-throw attempt rate.
As soon as this coming season, Edwards will find the right balance between his floor-stretching prowess and his defense-collapsing downhill game.
With three straight All-Star nods, back-to-back top-seven finishes in MVP voting and an offensive repertoire that is clearly still evolving, Edwards is a lock to be the Minnesota Timberwolves' top threat for a decade.
New Orleans Pelicans: Jeremiah Fears
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Jeremiah Fears has no official NBA track record and a couple of concerning shortcomings in his game that make this a risky pick. But the lightning-quick point guard can get wherever he wants on the floor, and that's a rare skill at any position.
With a tight handle, a shockingly sudden first step and good vision, Fears has the starter kit for a superstar creator. If he can overcome his slight frame and hit enough outside shots to keep defenders from sinking into the lane against him, he'll have every chance to rack up paint touches, assists and free-throw attempts.
Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III and even fellow rookie Derik Queen are all in contention here, but the first two don't feel guaranteed to be around in three years while the third lacks the high upside of Fears.
If Williamson turns in a healthy season in 2025-26 and finally establishes himself as a centerpiece reliable enough to build around, the Fears pick will look like a mistake.
New York Knicks: Jalen Brunson
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Jalen Brunson will play his age-32 season in 2028-29, putting him near the end of his apex years. The New York Knicks might be looking for a younger option to lead them by then, but Brunson doesn't seem like the type to give in easily.
It's easy to forget Brunson wasn't even an every-night starter until he got to New York in 2022-23. He spent the first four years of his career fighting to prove he could handle a major role. Now that he's entrenched as the figurehead of a marquee franchise, the rugged lefty is going to cling to what he's earned.
Because Brunson has been the main driver of New York's recent success, and because he's playing on a team-friendly deal, there's very little chance the organization will sour on him. Few players have built up more equity with a team and fan base than he has, which means Brunson is going to be welcomed in New York for as long as he wants to be there.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
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You'd have to range pretty far to locate a bigger Jalen Williams believer than me, but even I can't claim he's got MVPs and scoring titles in his future. That's why Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, still just 27, has to be the pick for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
It's possible SGA will cede touches and shots to his OKC teammates in the coming years—both as an acknowledgment of their worthiness and as a means to lighten his load during what should be multiple deep playoff runs. But Gilgeous-Alexander would have to suffer a pretty substantial decline to lose his grip on the title of Oklahoma City's best player.
The opposite, further growth, is actually more likely. Gilgeous-Alexander has quietly improved his game over the last handful of seasons, adding unmatched foul-drawing craft in 2022-23, setting a career mark with 2.1 made triples per game last year and juicing his assist rate to a personal-best 9.0 per 100 possessions in 2024-25.
With a trajectory like that, why would anyone bet against SGA adding even more layers to his game over the next three campaigns?
Orlando Magic: Paolo Banchero
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Paolo Banchero is a first-option offensive centerpiece already, and has been since sometime during his rookie season of 2022-23. He holds career averages of 22.4 points, 4.6 assists and 7.5 free-throw attempts per game, figures very few players have ever matched in their first three years.
Since 2000, only LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Dwyane Wade and Trae Young are in that club.
The next big trick for Banchero will be figuring out how to occupy that lead role on an offense that's actually good. The Orlando Magic have ranked 26th, 22nd and 26th in offensive efficiency since he joined up.
With the additions of Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones this summer, plus likely growth from several in-house contributors (looking at you, Franz Wagner), Banchero could finally have a supporting cast good enough to draw away some defensive attention.
With a track record of production that screams future superstardom and the endorsement of a full five-year max contract from the Magic, Banchero is one of the league's most firmly settled cornerstones.
Philadelphia 76ers: Tyrese Maxey
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If he's still on the team in three years, Joel Embiid might produce the odd week or two in which he looks like an MVP candidate. But if we're factoring in durability and the overall volume of a player's contributions, Embiid just doesn't have what it takes.
Tyrese Maxey will never reach the heights Embiid did, but he's going to be a reliable All-Star candidate for at least another several years. Just now entering his prime, the blindingly fast point guard should still have almost all of his velocity as a 28-year-old in 2028-29.
Better still, Maxey has excelled as an off-ball shooter in the past. He has a great shot to challenge for a scoring title in the next few seasons if he maintains all his downhill burst while also getting back to being the 40-percent three-point shooter he was in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker
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Devin Booker has never shown much interest in leaving the Phoenix Suns, which distinguishes him from the last few stars who've come and gone in relatively short order. Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal didn't exactly put down roots in the desert.
Phoenix rewarded Booker's loyalty this offseason with what felt like a superfluous two-year extension on a deal that already spanned into 2028.
If the Suns operated like a normal organization, they would have pursued a Booker trade at some point in the last year or so. Bereft of picks, unlikely to threaten for a playoff spot and still too expensive, Phoenix should have moved Booker to trigger a reset.
The franchise's all-time leading scorer is still a Sun, and he figures to stay that way for the foreseeable future. If Booker hasn't grown concerned by Phoenix's recklessness of the past two seasons, maybe his tolerance for mismanagement is high enough to keep him there forever.
Portland Trail Blazers: Scoot Henderson
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Scoot Henderson hasn't lived up to the hype that pegged him as one of the most promising point guard prospects in years.
Or has he?
Across his age-19 and age-20 seasons, Henderson averaged a combined 13.3 points and 5.2 assists while logging just over 3,500 total minutes. Only six other players in NBA history ever matched those figures at such a young age. At least three of them—LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving—will be in the Hall of Fame.
Two others, Stephon Marbury and LaMelo Ball, were All-Stars.
Call it cherry-picking if you like, but admit that Henderson has quietly been on a superstar track all along. Though he'll have competition from Shaedon Sharpe, Donovan Clingan, Yang Hansen and maybe even Deni Avdija, the Portland Trail Blazers point guard is still a great pick to be one of the top floor generals in the game by 2028.
Sacramento Kings: Keegan Murray
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Options are scarce on a Sacramento Kings roster that skews older and suffers from a level of chronic instability that makes forecasting difficult. Though Keegan Murray is already 25 and has never established himself as more than a role-playing fourth option, he's the default choice.
Zach LaVine is 30, DeMar DeRozan is 36 and Domantas Sabonis is 29. None figure to play better going forward than they already have, and Sabonis remains one of the likelier trade-request candidates in the league. Odds are, all three will be long gone in less than three years.
Murray has yet to sign a rookie-scale extension, which puts his own staying power in doubt. It's also hard to imagine him breaking out statistically—both because the Kings have never featured him, and because Murray seems to prefer a deferential role. He averaged a career-low 11.3 shots per 36 minutes last season, down from 13.6 as a sophomore.
He's the best young-ish player on the team, though, which is all it takes to win in a weak field.
San Antonio Spurs: Victor Wembanyama
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Forget the San Antonio Spurs; Victor Wembanyama might be the best player on planet Earth in three years.
Injury cut short a 2024-25 campaign that would have undoubtedly produced a Defensive Player of the Year award, not to mention a potential top-five MVP finish and legitimate All-NBA first team consideration. Wemby played just 46 games and still led the league in total blocks while also setting a record for three-point volume (8.8 attempts per game) by a 7-footer.
No one in NBA history had ever averaged at least 3.0 threes, 3.0 blocks and 3.0 assists per game in a season until Wembanyama did it last season. He'll probably nudge those figures past 4.0 next season, and who knows where his statistical trail-blazing will go from there.
Barring injury, Wembanyama is on track to be one of the greatest defenders of all time while also adding massive offensive value with his spacing. If anyone on San Antonio's roster is even close to his level in 2028-29, the Spurs will have probably already won another championship.
Toronto Raptors: Scottie Barnes
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The Toronto Raptors will pay Scottie Barnes $47 million in 2028-29, more than anybody else on their books that far into the future. So he'd better be their best player at that point.
Barnes is only 24 and has already made an All-Star team. Though inconsistent outside shooting (career 30.0 percent from deep) remains a major drawback, the versatile forward makes up for it with a well-rounded game that still feels primed for growth.
Barnes has handled facilitating duties most forwards don't, and he's been an impact defender while also developing his finishing craft. With his athleticism and handle, Barnes is bound to blow away last year's career-high 4.6 free-throw attempts per game in the near future.
Career averages of 17.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 block are just the beginning. Barnes is going to threaten for an All-NBA spot multiple times between now and 2028, something no other Raptors players seem likely to do.
Utah Jazz: Ace Bailey
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Let's take the same leap of faith the Utah Jazz did on draft night and anoint Ace Bailey as the franchise's key player.
An intriguing mix of size, mobility, shot-making and on-ball defense mark Bailey as a potential first-option, two-way star. The 19-year-old has an exceptionally long way to go before realizing that hypothetical upside, but maybe he will have tapped into enough of it by 2028 to make this pick feel like less of a reach.
The mere possibility that Bailey could fit the Jayson Tatum/Paul George archetype is enough to slot him ahead of more established Jazz players like Lauri Markkanen and other up-and-comers like Isaiah Collier or Kyle Filipowski.
Washington Wizards: Alex Sarr
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If you can look past the unthinkably poor 45.4 percent hit rate on twos last year, Alex Sarr has a lot to recommend him.
After averaging 1.5 blocks per game, it appears the fourth-place finisher in Rookie of the Year voting will impact games defensively. That's going to be a must for Sarr, whose offensive game doesn't fit most conventional big-man modes.
Glass-half full: Maybe he can be effective in unconventional ways.
Sarr can fly in the open floor, seems to have better passing instincts than most centers (2.7 assists in 27.1 minutes as a rookie) and might evolve into a dangerous attacker of the paint off the dribble. The three-ball didn't go in enough last year, but Sarr seems comfortable shooting it. That's half the battle.
If he develops his strengths, he'll still have plenty of offensive advantages against opposing bigs—possibly enough to offset what look like some pretty severe interior finishing issues.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.
