Trae Young Gives His Honest Opinion About Hawks No. 1 Pick Zaccharie Risacher

Trae Young had made it to the headlines for his straightforward comment on this year’s draft class. He believes that the top picks from the 2024 draft class aren’t expected to become superstars like the stacked 2023 draft class. Young even shared his two cents about the #1 pick, Zaccharie Risacher who was selected by the Hawks. 

During an appearance on Podcast P with Paul George, Young expressed how many thought Young didn’t congratulate his teammate Risacher after getting drafted. He cleared the doubt and revealed that he wished the French guard in a private message.

“I spoke with him… I messaged him behind the scenes right before Summer League and just shot him some good luck… I don’t even care for people to know, but obviously they’re going to know now…”

 The 25-year-old Hawks point guard further mentioned that he is yet to practice with Risacher, so he is yet to build on-court chemistry with him.

“We haven’t had the chance to really connect on the court yet… But I’m sure we will as we get into the season. He’s a talented player, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do.”

Young further talked about the 2024 rookie class and shared his thoughts on how most NBA athletes view the 2024 draft class as a collection of role players. They are not expecting them to become franchise faces in the future.

These drafts also produced numerous All-Stars but the 2024 draft class seems to lack the star power. This is why Young is skeptical about the players from the draft class reaching All-Star caliber. Young expressed,

“… No disrespect to the guys who got drafted, from the outlook looking in, some guys may surprise but a lot of us look at them as role players in anyway. The last three #1 picks number on picks, you got Victor, you got Ant-Edwards, you got some big time names…”

The Hawks guard pointed out that while it was uncertain who would be the #1 pick in the 2024 draft, the previous drafts had consensus #1 picks. If we examine the #1 picks from the last five years, Young hit the nail on the head. Victor Wembanyama, Paolo Banchero, Cade Cunningham, Anthony Edwards, and Zion Williamson are all franchise faces.

Young also talked about how the incoming rookie class was viewed as just role players. “None of these guys – whether it’s Reed [Sheppard], who’s going to be a hell of an NBA player, or Alex [Sarr], who didn’t play well in summer league, but who’s going to be a hell of NBA player – but a lot of these guys could be just role players. I feel like the GMs all this year are probably just trying to figure out who’s going to be the best role player for whatever team…”

The 3x All-Star did give his props to #2 pick Alex Sarr. He expects him to bounce back after a rough Summer League, but for him, even Sarr’s ceiling may be that of a role player. It will be interesting how Riescher performs in his rookie year.

A look back at the 2024 #1 pick’s Summer League performances 

The Hawks rookie played in just the first two games of the Summer League. He missed the rest of the tussles because of a right quad contusion. During his only two matches, he did show some promise but couldn’t contribute consistently on the offensive end. He made 3 out of 9 triples in the first game but went just 1 of 7 from the deep in the next one.

As a 6’9” “3 and D” Wing, he’d be expected to do much better from long-range, but at the same time, the sample size was too small. Later on George’s pod, Young opened up Risacher’s fit with the Hawks. He lauded the French athlete’s size and likened his game to Dyson Daniels, the Pelicans guard, who was impressive during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Thus, Risacher’s ceiling may be that of a defensive wing who can knock down the odd jumper from the long range. He has a long way to go as a shot-creator and will face a stern test as a defender against NBA athletes.