Alex Sarr’s hip injury is “unlikely” to cause the Perth Wildcats Next Star to slide down NBA draft rankings according to ESPN draft expert Jonathan Givony.

Sarr suffered a minor hip strain in the December 28 game against the Adelaide 36ers, and is set to be re-evaluated ahead of Perth’s Saturday night clash with the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

The NBL Next Star is currently projected as the number one NBA pick on several mock drafts, and Givony has reported Sarr’s draft stock or interest won’t be hampered by his injury setback.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Projected No. 1 pick Alex Sarr was playing his best basketball prior to suffering a hip injury, looking increasingly comfortable as a ballhandler, passer and shooter with some outstanding moments defensively. I dug into what his injury means on ESPN today: <a href="https://t.co/b6xJy8Vg5n">https://t.co/b6xJy8Vg5n</a> <a href="https://t.co/f4Oq5X9L6s">pic.twitter.com/f4Oq5X9L6s</a></p>&mdash; Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) <a href="https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/1744739021203611932?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“It's unlikely these injuries (Sarr and fellow projected lottery pick Nikola Topic) will ultimately have much of an effect on the draft stock of either player,” Givony wrote on ESPN.

“Both players have built extensive résumés this season - 21 games for Sarr, 19 for Topic - with significant roles that don't leave much to the imagination regarding their projection to the NBA.”

Givony added Sarr is playing the best he has this season, observing he is “looking increasingly comfortable as a ballhandler, passer and shooter with some outstanding moments defensively”.

The Wildcats face the Phoenix on Saturday night at 8pm AEDT in Perth’s annual Open Air game at RAC Arena. It will be broadcast on ESPN via Kayo.