A deep dive into Zaccharie Risacher’s rookie season.
Zaccharie Risacher is not your typical no. 1 overall pick. Heck, in a neutral draft class, he might not have even gone in the top-five.
He doesn’t possess any unique skills or physical traits for his position like Victor Wembanyama. He won’t wow you with jaw-dropping feats of athleticism like Zion Williamson. He doesn’t project to be a no. 1 option on the offensive end like Cade Cunningham or Paolo Banchero.
Unlike a certain Atlanta native who went no. 1 overall, he’s quite humble, sharing at one of his very first Hawks’ press conferences that he is “not comfortable with all the individual type of stuff” and that he “just wants to be part of a team”.
Yet, while he lacks many of the qualities typically seen in a no. 1 overall pick, and likely won’t blossom into a full-fledged superstar down the line, none of this precludes him from being a valuable player.
Still just 19 years old, Risacher is a well-rounded, selfless player who gives his all on both ends of the floor. Thrown into the fire as a starter this season*, he rarely looks out of his depth on the defensive end (uncommon for a rookie wing), and can always be counted on for a ‘hustle play’ or two each game. On offense, his calling card is his ability to shoot off the catch, however he has also impressed with his off-ball movement and ‘drive and dish’ ability too.
*Risacher came off the bench for the first two games of the season, but has started each game since then.
Head coach, Quin Snyder, raved about the rookie’s character after the March 12th win over Charlotte, saying:
“The competitiveness to me is big, he’s incredibly cochable, and it’s always good to see a player who’s passionate about the game and is also unselfish. I think that unselfishness shows itself on the court, when everybody gets to watch him, and it shows itself in practice and off the court as well, he’s got a great way about him. Any time your teammates like playing with you, you’re usually a pretty high character guy and that’s what he is.”
While Risacher’s role/usage hasn’t changed all that much over the course of the season, the biggest difference between his early season play and now is his comfort level from beyond the arc.
Through his first 39 games of the season, Risacher was shooting just 28.1% from deep, the fifth worst (!) mark out of the 145 players who had taken at least 150 three-point attempts over that span.
However over his last 23 games, since returning from an adductor injury at the end of January, his three-point percentage has soared all the way up to 44.7% – the third best (!!) mark amongst the 108 players who have taken at least 100 threes over this span.
Risacher’s perimeter shooting proficiency was a big factor in him taking home last month’s Rookie of the Month award, and it’s safe to say that his recent run of form has endeared him to both Hawks’ fans and the rest of the NBA watching community*.
*Many of whom were ready to declare ‘ZR’ a bust at the beginning of the season… but we’ll let bygones be bygones.
Yet, though it’s obviously been great seeing him shooting the three-ball with confidence, Quin Snyder has also spoken about the importance of not getting caught up in the outcome when discussing Risacher’s play this season, saying after the Hornets game on Tuesday:
“I don’t want us to get hung up on Zacch making shots and saying he played well, and then when he misses shots, saying he didn’t. The only way Zacch doesn’t play well in those situations is if he passes up shots.
There was a game earlier in the year where he had a really tough first half and immediately came back and bam-bam-bam had a huge third quarter — that’s significant. More than what the stat sheet says, you’re ability to handle adversity will take you far. He’s also been very consistent on the defensive end. It doesn’t mean he’s perfect, but that’s something he’s given us night in and night out which also doesn’t show up on the box score.
Zacch’s a complete player. That’s not common at his age, especially. When you have a player that attacks the rim, can finish, can shoot, can defend and can rebound, that’s a pretty good thing.”
So today, let’s pull out the microscope to analyze Zaccharie Risacher’s rookie season. We’ll gush over the positives (not just the shooting!), and highlight the areas where he needs to improve. Let’s get into it.
Cuts/Inside the Arc Scoring
Risacher’s ability to move without the basketball is one of his best traits – and is something that he’s tapped into all season long. Though he averages just one “cut” possession per game, and these plays make up a puny, 7.9% of his scoring play-types, the timing on these, as well as his ability to finish when given a runway really stand out.
been impressed by 19yo Zaccharie Risacher’s instincts and activity as a cutter pic.twitter.com/9ZRZTrwQmK
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) February 22, 2025
As Atlanta’s floor spacing improves, and opposing defenses begin to show Risacher some more respect from beyond the arc, plays like the ones above should become more of a common occurrence. However even in the short term, I believe the Hawks could benefit from calling a few more designed cuts for their no. 1 overall pick.
Part of the reason the Hawks should be looking to carve out some more cutting opportunities for Risacher is because of how much better he shoots on two-pointers when he takes fewer than two dribbles. Per nba.com/stats, ‘ZR’ is shooting 58.1% (115-for-198) from inside the arc when taking less than two dribbles, compared to just 42% (63-for-150) when taking two dribbles or more.
While there’s some noise in there (Risacher tends to be closer to the basket when taking less than two dribbles), it’s clear that one area that he has to work on is his ability to score off his drives.
Against Milwaukee, he easily gets past Damian Lillard, but struggles to finish over Brook Lopez at the rim.
Against OKC, Risacher has a driving lane to his left when he initially catches it, but he instead opts to go right and gets walled off by Lugentz Dort.
Against Miami, he misses everything but the shot clock on the scoop layup attempt over (fellow rookie) Kel’el Ware. Oof.
Per nba.com/stats, Risacher’s field goal percentage on drives (39.4%) ranks 144th out of the 155 players* who have taken at least two attempts per game off drives this season, and as you can see in the table below from cleaningtheglass, his ability to finish at the rim could benefit from some extra work this offseason in general.
As such, Risacher’s ability to both create and convert these attempts at the basket will be something to watch going forwards.
*Min. 15 games played
Playmaking
Moving on to Risacher’s playmaking ability, while he averages just 1.2 assists per game, and has totalled three more turnovers than assists on the season, ‘ZR’ has racked up some impressive dimes this season and I remain high on this aspect of his game.
A lot of Risacher’s assists come off of his drives/cuts as seen in the clips below.
Here he beats Jaden Hardy backdoor, then kicks it back out to Dyson for the open catch-and-shoot three.
On this play, Risacher gets into the paint, engages the help defender, then hits a no-look pass to the corner for a ‘Garry Bird’ triple.
The play below might look simple, but it’s a perfect example of how well Risacher understands the game. Risacher times his drive perfectly, gets past Haywood Highsmith, then takes a dribble towards Jaime Jaquez Jr. – which creates just enough time and space for Hunter to knock down the catch-and-shoot three.
As discussed in the section above, Risacher is an effective cutter himself, however he also keeps his head up to spot his teammates in the half-court as well. Against Indiana, he rejects the dribble hand-off (DHO) with Okongwu, then delays his pass by a split-second as Myles Turner closes out and finds ‘OO’ for the lay-in.
Against Miami, Tyler Herro overplays the inbounds pass to Okongwu, leaving Dyson an open path to the basket. ‘ZR’ notices, then gets creative to find him cutting to the hoop for the easy bucket.
Another flavor of his assists comes on the possessions where the Hawks use him as a screener, and it’s been encouraging to see him create quality looks for his teammates directly out of the ‘roll’ (first clip below), and also indirectly, by using his gravity on ‘ghost screens’ to create driving lanes for his teammates (second and third clips below).
Some of my favorite Risacher assists are the ones that I like to call “hustle assists”. On the possession below against Toronto, the Hawks are up by 26 with 8:00 remaining in the ball game. Trae Young throws a behind the back pass that looks destined to go out of bounds, but Risacher hits the deck, snags the loose ball, and gets the ball to Capela for the score. Regardless of the scoreline, Risacher is hardwired to make the right basketball play.
Against Denver, Young’s pass is nearly stolen by Nikola Jokic, but ‘ZR’ comes up with the loose ball, bats it out to Young, then gets it back, and instead of shooting the contested two over Jokic, opts to find Daniels for an open three.
Still, while I’ve found the flashes Risacher has shown as a playmaker to be quite impressive this season, the next step for him is to up the volume. Per dunksandthrees, his assist percentage (6.8%) ranks in just the 12th percentile amongst all players. Per cleaningtheglass, his assist-to-usage ratio (0.37) ranks in just the fifth percentile amongst forwards.
Of course, part of the reason these numbers are so low comes down to Risacher’s role in the offense (i.e. the fact that the Hawks are clearly prioritizing his development as a play-finisher rather than a playmaker at this stage of his career), however another factor at play here is that he generally plays a low risk game, preferring to make the conservative pass even if it leads to a lower percentage shot for the offense, rather than the riskier pass that could lead to a higher percentage look, but is also more likely to result in a turnover.
While this is not necessarily a problem, and Risacher’s confidence hitting these tighter passing windows should grow over time, finding this balance will be an important part in his development as a playmaker.
Three-Point Shooting
As discussed in the introduction, Risacher has been absolutely lethal from beyond the arc since returning to the lineup on January 27th – shooting an eye-popping 44.7% from beyond the arc on five attempts per game over this span – which has raised his season-long three-point percentage to a respectable 35% (on 4.4 attempts per game).
Two things that stand out from Risacher’s three-point shooting metrics this season are that a) nearly 90% of his attempts have come off the catch, and b) he rarely takes contested threes, with over 70% of his attempts this season coming with the closest defender six-plus feet away.
Given that Risacher plays a lot of his minutes next to Trae Young – a player who basically creates open threes for teammates in his sleep – his ability to shoot off the catch is arguably the most important skill for him to nurture on the offensive side of the ball, and it’s no surprise that Atlanta’s coaching staff have made these types of looks of a priority for him this season.
Risacher likes to spot up from the weak-side corner when one of the guards runs a pick-and-roll, and has done a better job ‘lifting’ in order to create a better passing angle for the driver as the season has gone on.
On the play below against OKC, the off-ball action between Okongwu and Young draws three defenders into the paint, leaving Risacher open for three.
Against Indiana, Young beats his man off the dribble, and with three defenders sucked into the paint, Risacher is once again wide open on the weak side for a catch-and-shoot three.
Here, New York actually defends the Young/Okongwu pick-and-roll pretty well, however Achiuwa loses track of Risacher, who relocates from the corner to the wing for an open three.
Risacher has also looked good shooting out of pick-and-pop situations, as you can see on the two buckets below (courtesy of Trae Young and Dyson Daniels).
Another way Risacher generates catch-and-shoot threes for himself is through his ability to get to his sweet spots in transition.
On the play below, it takes Risacher five seconds to get from the Hawks’ baseline to the opposite corner before he splashes the three (plus the contact).
Against Indiana, ‘ZR’ races to his spot after the Mo Gueye swat, then knocks down the transition three off the feed from Young.
Risacher shot just 29.8% (42-for-141) on his catch-and-shoot looks through the first 39 games of the season, however since then, he’s converted these looks at a stunning 48.0% clip (47-for-98) – one of the best marks in the league over this span*.
*Only Kevin Durant (Risacher’s favorite NBA player) has shot better on more C&S 3PA’s per game since 1/27
Yet, while Risacher’s perimeter shooting efficiency has been nothing short of spectacular over the past two months, this ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ shooting from him is going to be problematic if it persists going forwards, and the “Captain Obvious” analysis is that he has to become more consistent from beyond the arc. The same questions that were asked about Risacher at the start of the year will pop up again the next time he goes through a rough shooting spell.
Another area that Risacher needs to work on this summer is his ability to shoot contested threes. As I mentioned at the top of the section, more than 70% of his attempted threes have come with the closest defender six-plus feet away and as you can see in the table below (numbers from nba.com/stats), his three-point percentage is far better on these looks than it is when there’s a defender in his space.
Given the way he’s shot the ball over the past two months, I’d imagine that opposing defenses are going to make more of an effort to close out on him going forwards. The next step for Risacher will be to improve his comfort level on these contested three-point attempts.
Defense
Last but not least, it’s time to talk about Risacher’s defense. While the “one number metrics” don’t view him too favorably*, his play certainly passes the eye test, and I’ve been extremely impressed with his effort, activity, and overall effectiveness on this end of the floor.
*BBall-Index’s D-LEBRON metric places his defensive impact in the 26th percentile amongst all non-bigs, and dunksandthrees’ D-EPM places his defensive impact in the 22nd percentile amongst all players this season
On the play below, he does a good job sticking to Patrick Williams on the drive and eventually comes up with the block.
Against OKC, he does a good job sticking with Jaylen Williams around the off-ball screen then does just enough to prevent the dunk.
Rarely out of the picture when it comes to defending in transition, Risacher has logged a couple of chase-down blocks this season. On the play below, he fumbles the hand-off with Okongwu on offense, but makes up for the error with a mean swat on Ben Sheppard.
Against the Nuggets, he tracks down Nikola Jokic in transition.
Per cleaningtheglass, Risacher’s block percentage (1.0%) ranks in the 67th percentile amongst forwards this season, and what’s equally impressive has been his ability to maintain this activity on the defensive end without fouling. Risacher averages under two whistles per game, and his foul-rate ranks as the eighth lowest out of the 44 rookies who have appeared in at least 25 games this season.
Still, these clips are highlights for a reason, and while his swats have been an impressive part of his game, they don’t capture all of the “little things” that he does right on the less glamorous end of the floor.
Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com put together a fantastic breakdown of Risacher’s defense during the March 12 win over Charlotte (below), and if you haven’t seen it already, I’d highly recommend giving it a scroll for some more nuance.
To me, it is hard to describe how impressive Zaccharie Risacher has been as a rookie without an assessment of his poise on defense.
I would like to do a thread showing every play for a whole game so about 30 plays in total. (1/32)
— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) March 21, 2025
Most rookies tend to be the “weak link” on the defensive end, but that’s not the case for Risacher. While Atlanta’s defensive rating is indeed a tad worse* with him on the court this season, they are only allowing 115.8 points per 100 possessions during his minutes, a mark that ranks in the 44th percentile relative to other five-man lineups with at least 100 minutes played this season (per cleaningtheglass). As this group continue to grow and develop their chemistry, their defensive standing should only improve.
*Atlanta allows 0.6 fewer points per 100 possessions when Risacher is on the bench – a negligible amount
Going forward, Risacher could stand to put on a few more pounds to help him deal with the more physically imposing matchups that he’s tasked with. Additionally, while his perimeter defense has been solid, he sometimes struggles when quicker guards attack him one on one – and his ability to handle the speedier matchups will be something to watch for as well.
Conclusion
All in all, there’s a lot to be excited about when it comes to Zaccharie Risacher. While fans and analysts alike will be carefully tracking the ups and downs of his play from week to week, ‘ZR’ knows that the only thing that matters is the big picture.
Risacher was recently asked how he judges the progress that he’s made over the course of the season, to which he replied:
“I feel like I don’t judge [myself], I just make sure to have the right mentality, make sure to put the work in every day so I can get better on the court and just help my team compete and win games, and that’s all. I just love what I do, you know? It’s a long journey, it’s a long process, obviously the goal is to progress every day and that’s what I’ve wanted to do since day one.”
All statistics/videos used in this article are from cleaningtheglass.com, pbpstats.com, nba.com/stats, bball-index.com, or dunksandthrees.com