Hawks select French teenager Zaccharie Risacher with 2nd best pick in franchise history

The Atlanta Hawks selected French teenager Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft on Wednesday night.

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ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Hawks seek French teenager Zaccharie Risacher to help revive the franchise after making the forward the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft Wednesday night.

Risacher (pronounced Ree-zah-shay), 19, impressed the Hawks as a catch-and-shoot scorer with ideal size for a winger. Risacher — standing at 6-foot-9, 215 pounds — is expected to join guards Trae Young and Dejounte Murray and forward Jalen Johnson as founding players on a team that hasn’t won a playoff series since is qualified for the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals.

In a year where there hasn’t been a consensus pick as the best player in the draft, the Hawks could have traded for more picks. The No. 1 pick was their only selection in the draft. Instead, general manager Landry Fields didn’t pass up the rare opportunity to cash in on the top pick.

The Hawks left out another French star, 7-footer Alex Sarr, who was projected by many as the first selection, after Frenchman Victor Wembanyama, who was San Antonio’s No. 1 pick last year. Other options for Atlanta at No. 1 included 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 make the No. 1 pick until they were the surprise winner of the NBA draft lottery. Atlanta had just a 3% chance of landing the top pick.

Fields faced the pressure of making the second overall pick in franchise history. In 1975, the Hawks made David Thompson their first pick before Thompson chose to play for Denver in the ABA.

Fields said he has fielded calls from executives interested in trading for the No. 1 pick. Fields acknowledged he had to consider offers because the Hawks had no other draft picks this year and few selections in future drafts.

The Hawks’ future draft picks were weakened by their 2022 trade to San Antonio for Murray. Atlanta traded the 2025 and 2027 first-round picks to the Spurs and also included a swap of 2026 picks in the trade.

Fields also must decide whether the Hawks will continue to rely on their backcourt of Murray and Young for leadership. The Hawks kept Murray until the trade deadline in February despite speculation that he might be available in exchange for draft picks.

Other key offseason decisions could loom for veteran players like center Clint Capela, who is entering the final year of his contract, and forward De’Andre Hunter.