After Victor Wembanyama became the first French player to be drafted 1st overall in the 2023 NBA Draft, French teen Zaccharie Risacher was brought in by the Atlanta Hawks to kick off the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft, which sets a promising precedence in the history of the league.

While the Atlanta Hawks are stacked with guards already at star level in Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, it does seem that Risacher comes in as a foundational player in the squad – a team that won a playoff series ever since making it to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals. There were rumors of the Hawks trading down considering that they don’t really need the 1st overall pick and was hoping for more selections, but GM Landry Fields took advantage of the pick and drafted Risacher.

To be fair, the consensus nearly favored yet another French star in Alex Sarr, who is another 7-footer who is expected to continue the trend of tall centers in the NBA. Other options for the Hawks could have ended up in UConn’s Donovan Clingan and Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard.

Atlanta’s Questionable Selection

The Atlanta Hawks had a 3% chance of landing the top pick in the lottery, but it did seem that the team didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to get a prime talent. The Hawks were essentially trading for the 1st pick, but he nearly considered giving it away with the lack of future trades for the team.

Risacher was named the Best Young PLayer for the 2023-24 LNB Elite season, finishing the campaign with averages of 10.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in 22 minutes of action per game. The forward has a flurry of awards in his career, being named the EuroCup Rising Star in the previous season and was an LNB Elite champion back in 2022.

1st overall pick was also selected to the France Senior Team for the upcoming EuroBasket 2025 campaign. He has represented the country for both the U19 and U17 World Cups and finished with silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Other Draft Happenings

The Washington Wizards went on to bring in Alex Sarr with the 2nd pick, while Sheppard was drafted by the Rockets. Notably, Clingan was selected by the Trail Blazers with the 7th pick, while the Memphis Grizzlies brought in Zach Edey with the 9th pick. Cody Williams, who was also hyped to be a perfect fit for the Hawks, was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 10th overall pick.

Some of the notable trades in the first round was Rob Dillingham, who was selected by the Spurs with the 8th overall pick. The Kentucky product was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for future draft picks. On top of that, Dillon Jones was drafted by the Wizards with the 26th pick, before he was subsequently traded to the New York Knicks, who would then send the Weber State product to Oklahoma City in exchange for five second-round picks.

The second round of the 2024 NBA Draft will continue tomorrow with 28 picks set to be made. It is worth noting that the Phoenix Suns and the Philadelphia 76ers have lost their second-round picks due to League penalty. The Trail Blazers, Pacers, and Grizzlies all have two or more picks in the coming round, which should lead to potential trades in the Draft Night.