Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young gave a candid take on this year’s NBA Draft class, which includes his teammate Zaccharie Risacher and Washington Wizards forward Alex Sarr.
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In his latest appearance on Paul George’s Podcast P show, Trae Young said he doesn’t have high expectations from the rookies this upcoming season because this year’s draft class doesn’t have much star power.
“No disrespect to the guys that got drafted, from the (outside) looking in, a lot of us look at (the players in the 2024 NBA Draft) as role players coming in anyway. I think a lot of the (general managers) this year were trying to figure out who is going to be the best player for their team,” Young explained.
“I don’t think (Sarr) is going to be their franchise player for them going forward. He’s going to be a great player and have a long NBA career, but the outlook on any of these guys coming was not like they were going to be Luka (Doncic) or Zion (Williamson)-type guys,” he added.
Trae Young is not the first to offer a pessimistic outlook to this year’s group, as many analysts called the 2024 Draft Class one of the weakest we’ve had in recent memory. It didn’t help either that Alex Sarr was subpar for the Washington Wizards during the NBA 2K25 Summer League.
Washington Wizards’ outlook for the 2024-25 season
The Washington Wizards got the No. 2 pick because they were one of the worst teams in the NBA last season, posting a 15-67 win-loss record, good for second to the last in the league.
After selecting Alex Sarr with the second overall pick, the Washington Wizards acquired Bub Carrington via a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers and Kyshawn George in a trade with the New York Knicks.
Despite the team adding Malcolm Brogdon, Saddiq Bey, and Jonas Valanciunas and re-signing Richaun Holmes and Anthony Gill, the Washington Wizards aren’t expected to return to the playoffs anytime soon.
