The Atlanta Hawks are looking for French teen Zaccharie Risacher to help revive the franchise after making the forward the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft Wednesday night.
The 19-year-old Risacher (pronounced Ree-zah-shay) impressed the Hawks as a catch-and-shoot scorer with ideal size for a wing player. Risacher — at 6-foot 9 and 215 pounds — will be expected to join guards Trae Young and Dejounte Murray and forward Jalen Johnson as foundation players for a team which has not won a playoff series since advancing to the 2021 Eastern Conference finals.
In a year there was no consensus choice as the top player in the draft, the Hawks could have traded down for more selections. The No. 1 pick was their only selection in the the draft. Instead, general manager Landry Fields didn’t pass up the rare opportunity to take advantage of the top pick.
The Hawks passed on another French star, 7-footer Alex Sarr, who had been projected by many to be the top selection, following France’s Victor Wembanyama, who was last year’s No. 1 pick by San Antonio. Among other options for Atlanta at No. 1 were UConn’s Donovan Clingan, who could have been the team’s center of the future, and Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard.
The Hawks didn’t expect to be making the No. 1 pick before they were the surprise winner of the NBA draft lottery. Atlanta had only a 3% chance of landing the top pick.
