The Atlanta Hawks selected French teenager Zaccharie Risacher with the first overall pick in a first-of-its-kind NBA Draft on Wednesday night at the Brooklyn Nets’ Barclays Center in New York.
The 2024 NBA Draft, which will last for two days for the first time in league history, provided the Hawks, who missed out on the playoffs last season, the chance to pick one of the top prospects in a draft class that had no consensus first pick.
Risacher, 19, is a 6-foot-9 forward who can provide Atlanta with great shooting along with other qualities a wing possesses, as he has shown all through his time in the French top-flight league with ASVEC Basket and JL Bourg-en-Bresse.
His selection marks the second straight time a French player has been selected with the first overall pick in the NBA Draft, following the selection of phenom Victor Wembanyama by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Risacher also became the fourth international player to be selected No. 1 in NBA Draft history after Wembanyama, Italy’s Andrea Bargani (2006), and China’s Yao Ming in 2002.
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“I’m a versatile player,” the French teenager said on when asked about his possible impact on the Hawks team. “I feel like I can fit easily into this team. I can’t wait to figure out what is going to be my role or my goals, or, you know, just to make sure we win games.”
Meanwhile, Risacher’s compatriot Alexander Sarr, who is also 19, was selected by the Washington Wizards with the second overall pick after the 7-foot center played the entire 2023–24 season in the Australian National Basketball League with the Perth Wildcats. It marked just the third time in NBA Draft history that the first and second picks had no college experience.
Likewise, 18-year-old French teenager Tidjane Salaun, who last played for Cholet Basket, was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the sixth overall pick.
This marked the first time a foreign nation (France) will have at least three native players selected in the top 10 spots in any NBA Draft, and Risacher, who is at the top of the list, expressed his pride in knowing himself and the two others continue to put their country on the basketball map.
“I’m not shocked. I’m not shocked,” he reiterated. “I’ve known Tidjane and Alex for a long time. We grew up playing against each other. So I know them really well.
“Like I said, that’s amazing for our country. That’s amazing for us, first of all. Just to be able to realize our dream together is special. I feel like French players are going to take some inspiration, and that’s going to be better and better for us. I really feel lucky because there’s so many young players that are good. That’s it.
“That’s amazing. We are trying to represent our country, and I’m so glad to be a part of it. There are more players coming in. I’m really proud of being a part of the success of my country.
“Trying to understand what Victor [Wembanyama], Rudy [Gobert] or other French players really help me to develop myself as a player, first of all, in France, and hopefully now in the NBA,” Risacher concluded.
Meanwhile, Reed Sheppard went to the Houston Rockets with the third pick, and Stephon Castle, who won the NCAA national title with the UConn Huskies, was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the fourth pick.
G League Ignite’s Ron Holland will head to the Detroit Pistons, having been selected with the fifth pick. As stated earlier, Salaun, the sixth pick, heads to Charlotte.
Cameroon’s Yves Missi, 20, is the only African in the first round of the draft, with the 6-foot-11 center selected with the 21st pick by the New Orleans Pelicans.
This year’s NBA draft will continue on Thursday night, with the second round set to take place at ESPN’s Seaport District Studios in New York.
