Jan 22, 2024, 08:00 AM ET

With so much uncertainty surrounding the 2024 NBA draft class, ESPN draft analyst Jeremy Woo will take a closer look at the prospects that are in contention of being drafted No. 1 overall.

Zaccharie Risacher has put together a historically productive season for a teenager, moving to Bourg from ASVEL for his final season playing in his home country of France. The son of Stéphane Risacher, a six-time French League All-Star, Risacher has stepped into an important role for his club in both Pro A and EuroCup slates and taken a leap in terms of confidence and performance. The 18-year-old has put himself in position to be one of the first players drafted in June.

Woo breaks down Risacher's game, looks at his strengths/weaknesses, and provides a player comp for him moving forward.

Risacher's strengths

In many ways, Risacher fits the quintessential NBA wing prototype, supplying a mix of positional size, on-court smarts, scoring, playmaking and positive defense. While he's not demonstrably off-the-charts yet in any of those areas, he has a very strong all-around developmental base for a player his age -- he turns 19 in April. Risacher measured at 6-foot-9 ½ in shoes at the 2023 Hoop Summit with a 6-10 ½ wingspan, giving him good size but average length for a small forward, comparing closely with wings such as Shane Battier and Memphis' Ziaire Williams. Since Hoop Summit, he has made significant strides as a player, rebounding from a poor showing at the 2023 FIBA U19 World Championships, moving to a new club that's invested in his development, and emerging as one of the best young players in Europe.

Risacher's defensive play has been largely excellent this season, showcasing versatility in guarding smaller players on the perimeter and the capacity to switch, rotate, and navigate effectively at his size. That type of ability and awareness always bodes well for teenage players' chances of getting minutes early in their NBA careers and helps scouts envision a reasonable floor for Risacher in a 3-and-D role.

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On the offensive end, Risacher has been effective with his touches, shooting an efficient 56% on 2s and 47% on 3s (though just 70% from the foul line), a big step up from his career averages. His flashes of off-dribble shot-making and aggressiveness point to some untapped upside, giving him the ability to maximize his size to shoot over defenders when unable to get to the rim. While not a high-volume scorer, his patience and all-around feel for his role have been notable, and there's a degree of safety in his overall profile if his improvements are real and sustainable.

Risacher's weaknesses

The primary hole in Risacher's profile at this stage of his career is that he's not an advanced shot-creator nor an exceptional jump-shooter. He plays a bit upright off the dribble and lacks a creative handle attacking defenders in space, which makes it hard to envision him becoming a top offensive option in the pros without a huge leap in the shot-making department. His scoring upside is tied heavily to becoming a top-flight shooter -- and while he's performing well statistically in that department this season, Risacher is a career 35.9% 3-point shooter in our database across levels.

The thought of featuring Risacher offensively right now probably requires a structured off-ball role, in which he's scoring off of more designed touches in the halfcourt, but he may not be that caliber of shooter where he warrants it. In an NBA system, Risacher is more likely to play a tertiary scoring role early in his career, spacing the floor with his shot, attacking the basket on a straight line, and allowing a lead playmaker to create opportunities for him. Risacher's all-around play has been solid and inspires some confidence in his trajectory, but to hit a high-end outcome in the pros befitting of a top draft selection, he must keep developing as a scorer. If he's just an average shooter in the long run, he may not warrant the type of capital it seems a team will have to invest to draft him.

What NBA scouts are saying about Risacher

Zaccharie Risacher showing why he's considered arguably the best international prospect in his generation. The 6'9, 17-year old wing has tremendous size, fluidity, footwork, range and touch. Has already held his own against Euroleague competition. pic.twitter.com/WUeAp66Vl7
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) January 9, 2023

Based on what we've gathered around the league, Risacher is trending as a top-five selection in the 2024 NBA draft. The valuable positional prototype he fits and his strong present trajectory have given him some momentum going into the back half of the season and the pre-draft process. Scouts share some of the same concerns I have surrounding his shot-creation, shooting, and how that might limit his upside, but there's also a sense of security in the skills he already has at a good level for his age.

The sense I've gotten from scouts around the NBA is that in a stronger draft, Risacher would likely be drafted in the mid-to-late lottery, as opposed to the top half. That highlights the value versatile two-way players with size and feel tend to have, no matter the draft.

My favorite Risacher highlight

Another big game for projected No. 3 pick Zaccharie Risacher in France, dropping 20 points in 25 minutes, including several clutch one on one buckets to ice the game down the stretch. The 6'10, 18-year old is shooting 47% for 3 on the season. pic.twitter.com/IuvpEEzihy
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) December 11, 2023

It's hard to pick just one Risacher play to highlight, as he is a player who offers more substance than style -- but I think the shot-making prowess he flashed in a recent win over Cholet and fellow projected lottery pick Tidjane Salaun offered some reason to rethink how realistic his pathway to offensive excellence might be. The second and third clips showcase Risacher's improving ability to get his own shot off the dribble from long range, with solid footwork into his gather and a high release. It's not only fun and creative to watch, but it's where the upside lies.

Risacher's NBA player comp

In a high-end scenario, you can look at Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton and think optimistically about what Risacher could become. His shooting development likely has to top out for him to get there, but he could be good enough all-around to become a top starter-level player in most contexts. If Risacher doesn't add a ton off the dribble, you could see him succeeding in a role similar to New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III, working as an athletic spacer and cutter who adds value away from the ball and defensively. And while he's not as athletic as Murphy, Risacher should be able to find NBA success with realistic, steady growth, so long as his body and shooting ability continue to improve.

Projected NBA lottery team that provides the best fit for Risacher

Part of the appeal here is that it's easy to envision Risacher fitting in as a connective perimeter player almost anywhere, considering the wide demand for the type of versatility he can bring. Teams such as the San Antonio Spurs, Washington Wizards, Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies, who all need wing help on younger-leaning rosters, should be looking hard at Risacher as an option early in the draft.

Why Risacher could go No. 1

6'10, 18-year old French wing Zaccharie Risacher is emerging as one of the most dynamic shot-makers in this class, making 46% of his 3s with historically strong overall productivity through 21 games, bolstering his candidacy as a top-shelf prospect. pic.twitter.com/NPJv7hJLwE
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) November 30, 2023

In a year when teams may focus on need earlier in the draft than usual, there are two ways of looking at Risacher's case for potentially going No. 1: From the perspective of "everyone always needs wings," look at which teams have holes at his position and help rationalize him as a need pick. Risacher will supply more polish and NBA-ready ability than Colorado's Cody Williams, or Ron Holland and Matas Buzelis from G League Ignite. Risacher is enjoying a better individual season than those prospects, his floor is probably higher, and he's young enough that you can also make the argument for his realistic upside.

And you can argue Risacher from the best player available perspective: a team might sorely need a point guard (San Antonio), but it's also entirely feasible that a front office might not view any of the guards in this draft class as legitimate franchise building blocks, with Nikola Topic, Isaiah Collier and others providing different strengths and weaknesses.

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You can look at what Risacher has done this season and decide you'd rather go in his direction and address need later on. He probably doesn't have the sheer upside of a top-pick contender such as Alex Sarr, but it might take less outlier-level development for Risacher to settle in as a very solid starter in the NBA -- which, considering the tempered expectations for this draft class on the whole, might be all a team decides to hope for. He doesn't possess the star power you hope for in a top choice, but value atop this draft starts to become relative and situational.

When looking at the very flat talent curve in this draft class -- not much separates the top prospects from each other -- Risacher represents a reasonable mix of both safety tied to his skill set, and upside tied to his age, which should have a good deal of appeal.

Jeremy Woo is an NBA analyst specializing in prospect evaluation and the draft. He was previously a staff writer and draft insider at Sports Illustrated.

2024 nba draft why zaccharie risacher go no 1

2024-01-23 03:30:24