The Atlanta Hawks got clowned for saying goodbye. That’s how bad Hawks fans think the Zaccharie Risacher pick was.
Atlanta shipped the 21-year-old former No. 1 overall pick to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday as part of a three-team deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder. In return, the Hawks got defensive stalwart Lu Dort and young guard Ryan Nembhard. It’s a good trade for Atlanta. It’s also an admission that the Risacher pick did not work.
Then the Hawks decided to send Risacher off with a nice farewell tweet. That went about as well as you’d expect.
The Roast Was Merciless
Fans piled on. “For what?” was the general theme. One reply on X noted the Hawks were “a year too late for Wemby and a year early for Flagg.” Which is precisely the wound.
The 2024 draft class had generational bust risk written all over it. Cooper Flagg went No. 1 in 2025. Victor Wembanyama went No. 1 in 2023. In between, the Hawks landed at pick one, faced a class scouts called weak, and took Risacher over players like Alex Sarr, Reed Sheppard, and Stephon Castle.
Sarr just made his second All-Rookie First Team run. Castle became a rotation guard for the Spurs. Sheppard is developing into a real 3-and-D piece for Houston. Risacher gave the Hawks 142 games of 11.1 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 45.7% from the field.
Risacher’s Numbers Tell the Story
He was fine. That’s the problem. The No. 1 pick has to be more than fine. He has to be a difference-maker, and Risacher never got there.
Now Dallas gets to develop him alongside Cooper Flagg. That is the exact scenario Hawks fans keep replaying in their heads. If Atlanta had lost one more game or won one fewer in the lottery, maybe the balls fall differently, and this whole timeline changes.
The Trade Actually Makes Sense
Give general manager Onsi Saleh credit for reading the room. Rather than dragging out the Risacher experiment, Atlanta cut bait and got real value. Dort is a proven wing defender with a title ring. Nembhard is a solid guard who can slot into the rotation.
Trae Young now has a defender who can guard opposing wings and a young point guard who can back him up. That’s a functional upgrade. The Hawks did not solve their long-term identity crisis, but they did fix a couple of roster holes today.
The Bigger Question
Where does this leave Atlanta? Still stuck in the middle. Not good enough to contend. Not bad enough to tank properly. Trae is still 27. Jalen Johnson is still coming off injury. The rebuild timeline is unclear.
The good news for Hawks fans: this front office is at least willing to admit its mistakes and try to fix them. That’s more than the last regime ever did.
Risacher can still turn into a star and make Atlanta look silly. If he does, the roast becomes a full-on burial. For now, though, the trade is a small win. Just next time, skip the farewell tweet.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
