- Second consecutive French player to go No 1 overall
- Center Alex Sarr selected by Washington at No 2
- Three French players drafted in top six picks
The NBA is in the midst of a French revolution. The Atlanta Hawks drafted Zaccharie Risacher with the No 1 pick in the NBA draft on Wednesday night, making him the second consecutive French player to be drafted with the top pick.
Risacher doesn’t come with the enormous height or hype of Victor Wembanyama, the towering center who San Antonio selected No 1 overall last year and went on to win the Rookie of the Year award. But the Hawks saw Risacher as the best choice in what has been viewed as a draft absent of elite talent.
The 19-year-old forward was the winner of the best young player award in the French League last season and beat out big men Alex Sarr, a fellow Frenchman, and UConn’s Donovan Clingan in the race to be the top pick.
When he did, it made NBA draft history. This is the first time that the draft has gone consecutive years without the No 1 pick being someone who played at an American college.
The 19-year-old Risacher impressed the Hawks as a catch-and-shoot scorer with ideal size for a wing player. Risacher – at 6ft 9inch and 215 pounds – will be expected to join guards Trae Young and Dejounte Murray and forward Jalen Johnson as foundation players for a team which has not won a playoff series since advancing to the 2021 Eastern Conference finals.
