NEW YORK — The draft process has been a whirlwind for French prospect Zaccharie Risacher. But he’s only a few hours from realizing his dream of making it to the NBA.
“I can fit onto a lot of teams, and I will be ready to do whatever it takes to help the team to win and understand the philosophy,” he said Tuesday. “I also for sure want to develop myself as a player (and) keep working on and improve skills. So I can be a better version of myself.”
Risacher, 19, has not been in the United States for more than a couple of weeks, and it feels like every day provides him with a new experience. Part of that has come with experiencing new American cities after touching down in different destinations for draft workouts, one of which included Atlanta to work out with the Hawks.
“I mean, like, every day was kind of a new experience,” Risacher said. “And that’s like, that’s what made the process exciting. I got to discover. I’m still discovering a new country, new cities and everything. So that’s really interesting, and that’s special, too.”
Though he did not provide details on how the workout with the Hawks unfolded, he reiterated that his versatility would allow him to stand out and make the most of his rookie season. Plus his confidence has grown over the last year, and he attributes that to playing professionally on a team with a specific role.
“I will say the fact that I was on a professional team with a role,” he said. “And I was considered like a part of a winning team and not just like an NBA prospect or somebody who needed minutes because of his status. Yeah, just year-round professional experience, people, famous players just made me realize that I could do something great in the season, as a player, as well as a team and also the fact that I was working out every day. I think as soon as you put the work in, you start to have more confidence and you usually do not worry.”
That confidence has catapulted him to the top of the draft boards of a number of draft analysts, opening up a strong possibility that a French player could go first overall in the draft for a second consecutive year after the Spurs selected Victor Wembanyama last year.
Risacher has some competition in French center Alexandre Sarr, who potentially could go first, despite declining to work out with the Hawks.
While only one of the two French players will end up with the title of No. 1 overall pick, Risacher, Sarr as well as forward Tidjane Salaun all could go in the top 10. Risacher and Sarr could even go off the draft board as back-to-back picks, and there could be a fourth French player to go in the first round in Melvin Ajinca. For Risacher, it bodes well for how the French have carved out a presence in the NBA.
Risacher said he and Sarr grew up competing against each other and that being so close to realizing their dream was something special.
While he has absorbed all of the talk, the mock drafts and analysis, he’s tried to distract himself to avoid overthinking.
“I don’t know,” he said. “And I’ve tried to take in information from everywhere, but the thing that comes to me a lot is anything can happen where you feel like you’re drafted and (then) you’re traded a couple minutes later. So it’s crazy how it works. So I don’t have any guesses or just wait and know for sure where I’m going to live.”
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