This year’s NBA draft may not be as loaded as expected. However, some of the players are still making their mark known. One of them is Zaccharie Risacher, French basketball giant Stéphane Risacher’s son and the projected top draft pick.

After making some huge waves in the LNB pro league, he gave the American basketball world big news of becoming eligible for the 2024 NBA draft. With so much hype surrounding this 19-year-old hooper, let us dive deep into his familial ties to the sport and his career so far.

The story of the EuroCup Rising Star

Born to the French basketball icon Stéphane Risacher in Málaga, Spain, the up-and-coming shooter has always interacted with basketball. His father won the silver Olympic medal with the France National Team in the 2000 Summer Olympics. He has been a part of a small club named Tassin in the suburbs of Lyon. At 15 years old, he entered the ASVEL Basket youth program. Here, the catch-and-shoot hooper played in the Under-21 league – LNB Espoirs.

Zaccharie Risacher entered the senior team the following year. He also made it to the 2022 EuroLeague but lost to Monaco. Here, he averaged 12.5 points and 4.4 rebounds. In June of 2023, he signed with ASVEL to begin his professional career. However, his current team JL Bourg loaned him for the season. Consequently, he earned a spot in the LNB All-Star Game.

He tried for the EuroCup and pushed his team to the Finals where they lost to Paris. As a result, he became only the second youngest player to win the EuroCup Rising Star honor. His impressive work also got him the Best Young Player award for LNB Élite. Apart from this, he has also represented his country in the FIBA World Cup championships. The small forward boasts bronze and silver medals for the U-17 and U-19 FIBA World Cups respectively. Hence, today he stands at the precipice of becoming the top selection for the NBA league, just like Victor Wembanyama did last year.

What makes Zaccharie Risacher a projected lottery pick in the 2024 NBA draft?

Zaccharie Risacher makes one of the top five picks in the 2024 draft. Recently, his impeccable performance to push his team JL Bourg-en-Bresse forward to the semifinals has gained a lot of traction. In the entire playoff run, he averaged 15.1 points and 7.4 rebounds. The young talent has a great shot-making ability and shoots 67% from the field and 38% from beyond the arc. His defensive skills are also clearly quite renowned. In his 62 games in the season, he averaged 10.9 points, shooting 38.3% from the 3-point line. Hence, his skills clearly lie in his ability to shoot from the deep.

According to ESPN, he comes above the Australian hooper Alex Sarr, his only competition to the first spot. According to CBS Sports and Reuters, he comes in second and third position respectively. While not all have this Frenchman in the first spot, he has an opportunity to make things work for him at the NBA Global Camp in Treviso, Italy. The camp will be an extension of the NBA Combine, allowing the athletes to show off their skills, get health checkups, and interview with interested teams.

Currently, many top-5 teams are interested in this offensive menace, as Bleacher Report suggests. But if he comes in the first spot, he is likely to go to the Atlanta Hawks. The team is coming off of an unimpressive run and adding the 6-ft-8 forward can help their frontcourt. This hooper will bring an interesting match of shooting ability at his size and length for his team. However, many suggest that he may not be an incoming impact. Meaning, Risacher is likely to take some time to cement his feet in the NBA. And while he has had a good playoff run with JL Bourg, he has also faced some ice-cold periods where he has not added much value to his team.

How does the NBA describe their incoming talent Zaccharie Risacher?

Everyone agrees that this projected No. 1 pick can be quite damaging in the NBA. However, the official website of the league says that he can only be a good long-term option. Zaccharie Risacher will also need to develop his ball-handling skills as the NBA requires players to be 5×5 on the stat lines. Moreover, the NBA website also suggests that his ability to move laterally can be quite useful in switching his positions from three to four on the floor. But that will mean that he develops more skills to be efficient in both.

While the teams have not yet picked Zaccharie Risacher for the draft, it looks like they are waiting for the very end to get their hands on this golden goose. It will be interesting to see how he performs at the NBA Global camp. Who knows just like Bronny James and Reed Sheppard, he too can improve his numbers and standing on the NBA draft projections for the year, not that he needs it.

The 2024 NBA draft presented by State Farm will kick start on June 26, 2o24, and will have its first chapter written at Barclay’s Center, Brooklyn, New York. The 2-day event will continue on June 27, 2024. This will be held at the ESPN’s Seaport District Studios in Manhattan.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.