Touted by many to be the number one selection, but why is this the case? Let’s find out.
[Editor’s note: this is the first half of the scouting report for Zaccharie Risacher. Part 2, Risacher’s defense and overall evaluation, will be released tomorrow.]
The Atlanta Hawks ended the 2023-24 season with a disappointing, but perhaps not totally unexpected, defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bulls in the Play-In Tournament. Heading into the off-season, it’s clear the Hawks can’t just run this iteration of the team back. I think there’s a universal agreement that this Trae Young-Dejounte Murray partnership hasn’t worked out, and one will likely be on the move.
However, the Hawks’ financial situation makes it nigh-on impossible to make wholesale changes to the side without some sort of upheaval via trade in order to acquire talent. But even this can only do so much, and the Hawks will be very hard-pressed to add talent via free agency to bolster their bench and their depth. In short, it’s hard to see how things get a whole lot better for the Atlanta Hawks.
…At least, that was the case until the night of May 12th, 2024.
The NBA Draft Lottery was, really, just a night where the Atlanta Hawks — represented by general manager Landry Fields — would show up as a formality to collect their 10th-or-so overall selection and be on their way — at least that’s what the math appeared to dictate.
Fate, however, dictated otherwise, and a 3% luck of the draw went their way, and now the Atlanta Hawks have the unexpected opportunity to add legitimate talent by means of the draft and, with it, a chance to reinvigorate the franchise with a number one pick around a star guard (whoever it turns out to be) and budding star Jalen Johnson.
But naturally, such a blessing comes with a curse, that curse, so to speak, is that there isn’t a consensus number one prospect like a Zion Williamson, or an Anthony Edwards, or a Victor Wembanyama. The 2024 draft class is seen as a ‘down year’ type of class, one where selecting higher up the board may be a burden that other teams are happy not to have. This is an uncertain draft where star potential would appear right now to be harder to assess.
However, the Hawks are fortunate: they’re not starting from scratch — they don’t need to find an outright superstar in this draft or a future franchise cornerstone — but if they’re keeping the pick, they do have to ensure that whoever they’re selecting can not only help them now and fit into what they have now, but also have some star potential going forward. Because the Hawks, well, currently owe a number of future selections to the San Antonio Spurs.
Alas, this is how we got to this moment right here. The bottom line is now the Hawks have the number one selection in their hands, and one of the contenders for this selection is 19-year-old French forward Zaccharie Risacher.
Standing at 6-foot-8 inches tall, Risacher spent this last season with Bourg-en-Bresse where he played a crucial role on a playoff team in the LNB Elite (the top division in France) and partook in the EuroCup. As such, Risacher racked up a lot of games even for international standards: 65 games in total across all competitions. Risacher averaged 11 points per game on 47% shooting from the field on 8.2 field goal attempts, 38.7% from three on 3.6 attempts, 70% from the line on 2.6 attempts, 3.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.6 turnovers and 2.3 personal fouls in an average of 23 minutes per game, per RealGM.
Looking at those stats, you might wonder why Risacher is under consideration for a number one overall pick; there’s not a ton of scoring and while what he does do is efficient — especially from three-point territory — he doesn’t exactly fill the boxscore. But the stats don’t always tell the full story, and that’s why we’re here today because we’re going to look at the film and see what’s what when it comes to Zaccharie Risacher and examine whether the potential for a number one selection is merited.
Offense/scoring
Risacher’s greatest asset on the offensive end is his three-point shooting. 38.7% on 3.6 attempts suggests great shooting potential at 19 years old (18 while the season was going on). But when you watch Risacher shoot from distance, you gain a confidence very early on in that every three he takes has a great chance of going through the net.
Off of the dribble hand-off, Risacher receives the ball and rises into a leaning three:
Here, another leaning three from Risacher, this time in the corner where, despite the contest, he drains the three:
Risacher has a lovely form and rhythm to his stoke, and he showcases that with this shot on the outside as he bounces to catch the ball and immediately bounces in rhythm to rise and connect on this three:
On this play, Risacher locates himself to the wing, and when he receives the ball he doesn’t hesitate to pull the trigger:
Risacher is often on the move, looking to get himself in a prime spot for outside opportunities.
Whether he’s open or a man nearby, Risacher rises:
Risacher also showed that, even when he’s not 100% set, he can get to a spot of comfort as he adjusts behind the line here to knock down the corner three:
Risacher shows legitimate NBA range from distance. Many of his threes were often a step or two, or more, behind the three-point line in Europe:
Risacher is also a very dangerous offensive prospect in transition, and he knows how to fill his lane in transition and present opportunities.
In a transition situation, Risacher heads towards the wing, is found, and immediately rises into a three:
Off of miss, Risacher immediately heads to the corner, and when he catches, he does a very good job to adjust the sights and drains the three:
Off of a turnover, Risacher again heads to the corner in transition, and when the ball is kicked to him, he duly dispatches the three:
However, something Risacher will have to improve on is his awareness of where his feet are when shooting from distance. Too often he casually has a foot on the line when the clear intention is to convert from three, but it ends up as a long two.
In transition, Risacher is ready behind the three-point line, receives the ball and drains the shot — but it’s later ruled as a long two:
In the corner this time, Risacher receives the ball, and he brings that right foot across, and it lands on the line. The shot attempt is missed but another long two:
From an out-of-bounds play, Risacher receives the ball in the corner and takes the long two:
It’s not a massive concern by any means, but just something Risacher will need to iron out of his game.
Long twos aside, this is all looking well for Risacher, but when you’re under the scope of being a potential number one selection the microscope is even finer. There’s been a trend in basically all of these three-point attempts: these are off-ball scenarios.
Risacher’s best work is not off the dribble, and the majority of his threes are catch-and-shoot scenarios. Risacher is not a player to demand the ball, go make plays off the dribble, or operate pick-and-rolls. He’s a shooter, but his strongest element within that is catch-and-shoot — and that’s an unusual place to be for a number one pick to be.
This was the one proper play off the dribble Risacher made of what I watched of him (which was a decent sample size), as he drives to his left and hits the fall-away jumpshot on the baseline:
It’s a beautiful play, but they are few and far between when it comes to Risacher making things happen off the dribble in the halfcourt. It’s the type of play, if you’re an executive, that makes you believe maybe, maybe more of this can be tapped into, and Risacher may become that franchise guy who can go make things happen off the dribble.
The only area where Risacher seems completely comfortable to have the ball in his hands is in transition/the open court — sometimes it’s hard to get the ball out of his hands there. It’s odd, because you don’t see Risacher even remotely try handle the ball in the halfcourt as you do in transition. However, in these fastbreak situations, Risacher is able to utilize his impressive (though, not spectacular) foot speed, and this can create opportunities for him.
Risacher’s got good size about him, and he can grab a rebound and just set off, as he does on this possession and goes coast-to-coast to finish with the dunk:
Off of a mishap, Bourg come up with the ball and attack in transition. This time Risacher streaks in support, receives the ball and finishes with the dunk:
Off of a miss, Risacher streaks ahead, receives the outlet pass and finishes at the rim with the dunk:
Risacher can also get to the free throw line in these scenarios, doing so as he gets ahead of the pressure on the out-of-bounds scenario, attacks the rim and draws the foul and free throws:
You also get a glimpse of the type of athlete Risacher is, and it certainly isn’t above the rim/superstar athleticism, but it’s enough to get by. What’s more impressive is the speed in which Risacher can travel.
It is bizarre at times watching Risacher in these situations because he almost becomes a different player. For whatever reason, it’s as though Risacher becomes so much more enabled in fullcourt handling the ball/attacking off the dribble but sometimes this doesn’t yield good results.
Off of a miss, Risacher receives the ball in his own half, and when he tries to perform a behind-the-back move the ball is taken from him, leading to a turnover and the subsequent basket:
Off of another opposing miss, Risacher grabs the rebound and sets off, whipping a behind-the-back move, but he ends up turning the ball over on the pass after his progress is halted:
Again, Risacher grabs the rebound and gets up the floor, but he again runs headfirst into traffic and puts up a bad shot:
Off of a turnover, Risacher receives the ball at halfcourt and again whips it behind his back but finds his progress halted on the block — but Risacher persists and puts up a bad shot:
It is a strange one, because you don’t really see Risacher usually display this flamboyance or dribble with this confidence in halfcourt scenarios except in the open floor…it is a strange one.
However, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Risacher ends up in good positions off the ball to then get on it. He’s good at moving off the ball as discussed earlier, and this movement can get him in positions to score inside the arc.
On the wing, Risacher sees the opposition’s head and back turned and makes the cut, receives the hand-off and dunks at the rim:
This time in the corner, Risacher makes the cut to free himself, receives the ball and finishes at the rim with the adjustment, plus the foul:
Again, I think this highlights just how often Risacher is off the ball and away from the action. While his shooting is good enough to fill up the points, he’s deployed and plays as a role player would, not as a budding star and potential number one pick.
This next clip is an example of good things happening for you when you get yourself on the move, and it’s a lucky play in how it breaks with Risacher basically inheriting a broken play. But his movement put him in position to receive that lucky break, and he finishes at the rim:
Risacher is also a threat on out-of-bounds plays, where he is usually the inbounder, and then he makes his move.
Here, he makes the inbounds pass, makes his move inside, gets to the baseline, and finishes at the rim despite contact from behind and heads to the line for the three-point play:
Again, Risacher makes the inbounding pass and makes his move immediately inside where he receives the ball, and he does well to finish the at the rim with his length plus the foul:
On another out-of-bounds play, Risacher inbounds and makes the cut inside and attacks the rim when he receives the ball where he draws the foul and free throws:
We’ll have a larger discussion of Risacher’s overall offense in the conclusion, but for now let’s move onto Risacher’s passing…
Passing/playmaking
With Risacher averaging fewer than an assist a game, there’s not as much to report here as there is with his scoring. You’ve gotten a sense by now that Risacher is not really an on-ball player or has the ball in his hands for too long — especially in the halfcourt. So the lack of assists won’t be surprising.
That said, when the opportunities arise, Risacher shows some decent touch and awareness. Honestly, this is just to show some of those flashes.
Risacher isn’t opposed to making the extra passes when he definitely has the right to be confident in just shooting himself:
Again, Risacher receives the ball on the wing and quickly shifts it to the corner where the shot goes up. Risacher, not one to stay still, catches the defense napping on the rebound and sticks the ball through:
Here, a nice loft by Risacher high-to-low before a foul was called inside but nice vision and touch:
After making the out-of-bounds pass, Risacher quickly relocates. And when the ball finds its way to him, Risacher immediately touches it inside to his big, who scores at the rim:
We’ve looked at Risacher on the move in transition and how his handle/ability on the move can sometimes let him down, but they can also can indirectly help him get his eyes up and make the most of a bad situation.
In transition, Risacher tries to lead the charge, has the ball dug to disrupt his drive — one which is killed — and from there Risacher pops a pass back out for a three-point opportunity:
The intention on this next play is for Risacher to get to the rim, but only when that fails does he then look elsewhere. On this occasion, he gets the ball to the corner for the assist on a three:
On the perimeter here, you’d like Risacher to recognize his more open teammate above the break. Even after the drive takes place, you would hope that Risacher is aware of his teammate, but he instead drives inside first to provide more space. Risacher doesn’t recognize this and commits the drive, which he has to back out of, and the teammate he gives it off to passes out to the teammate Risacher should have spotted first:
I would love to see more of this type of play from Risacher, making plays in transition with that head of steam he can get:
This, this is something anyone can get behind, but it doesn’t happen enough — and the bottom line is passing/playmaking is just not a refined part of Risacher’s game. It’s just not part of his overall game. The potential is there to do more, but honestly, it’s about what you might expect for someone who plays off the ball as much as he does.
Risacher will make the extra pass though, and while I don’t think he’s a selfish player, I don’t think he exactly plays with the scanners on either, more often looking to find teammates once he gets out in transition or driving to the rim.
[Editor’s note: Part 2, Risacher’s defense and overall evaluation, will be released tomorrow.]