Former Perth Wildcat Alex Sarr says he still wants to be the No.1 NBA draft pick despite knocking back team

Former Perth Wildcats centre Alex Sarr wants to be the No.1 pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft, despite reports he knocked back a workout with the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks hold the first pick in the draft, held in New York on Thursday morning (WA time) and Sarr — who spent last season at the Wildcats as a Next Star prospect — is widely projected to be taken in the top two. Sarr refused to weigh in on reports he did not workout in front of Hawks scouts, but insisted he still wanted the honour of being taken with the top pick. It now appears likely French countryman Zaccharie Risacher will land at the Hawks, with the Washington Wizards looming as Sarr’s most likely next home. There is also speculation the Hawks could trade the first pick. “I have a great team around me, (agent) Bill Duffy and WME and they have already been through all of this and I trust them. I’m not going to get into the specifics of where I worked out and where I didn’t, but I have been doing my best in my workouts and that’s all I control,” Sarr said in New York on Thursday. “I mean, of course, as a competitor, but for me, it is more important to be drafted. At the end of the day that is what’s most important and you have just got to be grateful for that. “It’s exciting, the draft is around the corner and I’m just really, really pumped right now. “You just have to turn your phone off and focus on the present.” If either Sarr or Risacher have their named called out first, it will be the first time ever European players have been taken with the No.1 pick in two consecutive drafts. Fellow French giant Victor Wembanyama was the consensus first pick last year and landed at the San Antonio Spurs. Sarr said he feels his balance between both ends of the court and his shooting mean he “can impact winning on any team I land”. “I can’t control where I end up, I just think wherever I end up to I’ll impact winning,” he said. Sarr said he hadn’t allowed himself to look too far forward and consider what life with the Wizards, who finished second-last in the eastern conference last season, could be like. The seven foot centre played a sixth-man role for the Wildcats in their run to the NBL semifinals last season. Sarr’s brother, Olivier, already plays inthe NBA for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Wildcats general manager of basketball Danny Mills was in New York for a pre-draft event for Next Star players and reunited with Sarr and his family. Victorian 19-year-old Johnny Furphy is also tipped to be drafted inside the first round. John Rillie and former Wildcats teammates will gather to watch Sarr have his name called out at an event at The Sporting Globe in Belmont.