The Atlanta Hawks have officially selected French basketball prospect Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Risacher, 19, is a small forward who spent the 2023 season with JL Bourg in France. He was born in Spain but grew up in France.
Risacher was one of two French prospects expected to be at the top of the 2024 draft. Both he and Alexandre Sarr were linked to the Hawks as potential top picks. However, in the end, Atlanta went with Risacher over Sarr or a potential trade.
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Sarr didn’t work out with the Hawks and was asked about it on Tuesday before the draft. He smartly dodged the question, just saying he trusts his agent’s decision-making.
“I have a great team around me — Bill Duffy and WME. They’ve already been through all of this and I trust them,” Sarr said on Tuesday. “I’m not going to get into the specifics of where I worked out or where I didn’t. But I’ve been doing my best in my workouts and that’s all I can control.”
It’s unknown how much of an impact that had on Atlanta’s decision, but either way, Sarr remains on the board while Risacher is now in Atlanta — a team built to contend as soon as this season.
Risacher joins star point guard Trae Young and guard Dejounte Murray on Atlanta’s roster for now, although there have been plenty of rumors surrounding both players in potential trades this offseason.
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Risacher will be in Atlanta, though, and he’ll look to bring his unique skillset to the Hawks. Risacher is a 6-foot-8 forward who averaged 11.1 points and four rebounds per game this past year with JL Bourg. He shot 47 percent from the field, 38.7 percent from deep, and 70.7 percent from the free throw line.
Risacher is coming from the same league where Victor Wembanyama played in France. Wembanyama was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs and had a historic rookie year. He averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks, and 1.2 steals in less than 30 minutes per game. He unanimously won the Rookie of the Year award and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year award voting.
Risacher isn’t expected to make the immediate impact Wembanyama made in his first year in the NBA — but he joins Wemby as back-to-back French prospects selected No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
