Hawks select French teenager Zaccharie Risacher with first pick in NBA draft

The Atlanta Hawks only had a 3% chance of landing the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, but luck was on their side.

Now they have their future after selecting Zacharie Risacher with the first pick on Wednesday night.

There was no consensus on which team was best, so it could be risky. Atlanta could have made a trade to take a safer route, especially considering the first pick was their only choice in the draft.

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But the Hawks kept the choice despite having numerous options.

General manager Landry 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 Dejounte Murray. Atlanta traded the 2025 and 2027 first-round picks to the Spurs and also included a swap of 2026 picks in the trade.

Risacher, who turned 19 in April, plays for the LNB, France's top professional basketball league, and was an All-Star last season.

The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 10.1 points and 3.8 rebounds last season. His father is Stéphane Risacher, silver medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games with the French team.

Risacher is expected to join guards Trae Young and Murray and forward Jalen Johnson as foundational players on a team that hasn't won a playoff series since advancing to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals.

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It was the first time the Hawks had the top pick since 1975, when they drafted five-time All-Star David Thompson and NBA Hall of Fame. However, the draft lottery had not yet been implemented, so this year marked the first time the Hawks won it.

Scott Thompson of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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