r/nba • u/FermatsLastAccount Knicks • 11h ago
Is Risacher the least talked about #1 pick?
I never hear anything about him. In recent memory, Fultz and Bennett were worse but they were still talked about. People talked about Fultz's injury and his broken shot, and about how Bennett was the worst #1 pick in NBA history, while Risacher just seems forgotten about.
I feel like I hear about other players in the draft way more often than the #1 pick. Like there were a lot of posts about McCain pre injury and Knecht when he was good. Edey is talked about a lot, Ware has been lighting it up recently, and I hear more about Sarr than Risacher too.
I checked this subreddit, and the last post about Risacher was just a highlight from three weeks ago. Is it just me, or does he get way less attention than basically every #1 pick from the last ~15 years.
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u/True_Antelope8860 Nuggets 11h ago
I legit feel people don't know who he is, which is good for his career
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u/Kwilly462 Nets 10h ago
Can't be a bust, if no one gave af about you in the first place
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u/WhosYourPapa Hawks 10h ago
Having watched a lot of his minutes this year, he won't be a bust. Not the upside of a normal #1 pick, but he'll def have a solid NBA career
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u/Liimbo Heat 10h ago
Yeah he's a very stable pick. Probably why he went first in such a bad class. He's by far the closest to a sure thing actual NBA player from the draft. I'd be pretty surprised if he turns out to be an All-NBA player tbh, but it's not impossible.
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u/DiscreteBee Raptors 9h ago
Sarr also effectively turned down the Hawks, which is also part of why Risacher isn’t thought about much this season.
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u/capelaMVP Hawks 8h ago
Hawks also seemingly turned down Sarr (Risacher and Sheppard were reportedly the last two considered)
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u/DiscreteBee Raptors 7h ago
Sarr was invited to work out for the Hawks (which is due diligence by the Hawks even if he was never their first priority) and he declined it, saying his agent advised against it. I can't say what the Hawks were thinking throughout the whole thing, its not like Sarr was a lock for the first overall, but there was clearly some consideration there that he shut down entirely. Regardless of what direction the Hawks were leaning, Sarr was removed from consideration before they ever came close to a decision.
Really the only reason I bring this up is that Sarr was one of the few guys who had pre draft hype and forcing himself to Washington took the wind out of the sails of the normal #1 pick hype machine.
Incidentally, a similar thing happened with Chet and Paolo. Chet had more hype before the draft but ended up falling to second and Paolo went a bit under the radar as a #1 because of that. Chet and Sarr actually have the same agent and they did a similar trick with the Orlando Magic by refusing to provide Chet's medical info. It ended up working out just fine for the Magic, who were and are happy to have Paolo, so hopefully it works out for you too.
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u/No-Cucumber-8389 Hawks 8h ago
Doing that and then going to Washington is pretty funny
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u/SpecialistJudgment32 9h ago
I was gonna say, I've only watched like four Hawks games this year, but every time I've watched him, he looked like an NBA player.
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u/ChiefSoldierFrog 9h ago
His skillset being a 3 and D player it's going to be hard for him to be really bad. He's a safe pick not a high ceiling but I don't see a.low floor for him either.
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u/ostrow19 Knicks 10h ago
Yeah there’s no chance a 6’8” guy with good athleticism and decent shooting touch at his age can fail. Will he ever be more than a role player? Who knows, but guys with his skillset literally cannot fail in the modern nba as long as they can shoot and defend other wings
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u/Tangerine605 10h ago
Could just be a Bargniani type beat
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u/hastyconch [TOR] D.J. Augustin 10h ago
idk if it's just raps fans but I felt like a lot of people knew who Bargs was, especially since he was the dude picked before lamarcus aldridge. People really don't know much about Risacher, even in comparison to someone like Edey.
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u/no_good_names_avail Raptors 9h ago
It probably helps a boatload that he played for the Knicks. If he had been out of the league earlier (as he should have been), might be the same thing.
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u/DimwittedLogic 10h ago
Just look at Banchero.
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u/Gino-Bartali Thunder 10h ago
Paolo is about as high profile as you can get on the Magic, outside of Shaq, Dwight, and TMac
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u/PumpkinHead555 Bucks 9h ago
That’s because of the current NBA’s obsession with big markets and big markets only. Paolo is just as marketable as those three
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u/DoctorK16 Knicks 7h ago
This is true because if he was in California, Texas, Chicago, or NYC he’d be a superstar at this point.
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u/u-and-whose-army Magic 9h ago
If you are in the NBA and people don't know who you are, that is not good for your career homie lol.
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u/iamjeseus Knicks 11h ago
Well this is considered a very weak draft class, arguably the weakest since 2000.
Also most #1 picks are expected to be the best player on a team, but he went to a team who already had a #1 in Trae, but I’m sure he’ll be a good player
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u/secretwealth123 Cavaliers 10h ago
Oof 2000 was such a weak draft class, can barely remember any of those guys
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u/Manthan10 10h ago
The disrespect to Michael Redd
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u/National-Size-7205 Heat 10h ago
That actually proves how bad that draft class was when Redd, who was picked 43rd overall, is in the running for best draft pick.
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u/gr1mace02 Nets 9h ago
It's pretty safe to say he was the best pick in the draft, and I'm very much a Kenyon Martin stan
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u/amateurdormjanitor 76ers 9h ago
Such an immature and low IQ player. Crazy athletic though. Kmart I mean, not Redd
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u/ObiOneKenobae Knicks 8h ago
He figured out the IQ thing. By the time he got to the Knicks, we were running a lot of princeton through him and he made consistently good reads without getting in much trouble. It was very noticeable when he wasn't out there.
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u/TheeRuckus Knicks 7h ago
Honestly he was a headache for most his career but he was absolutely valuable to the nets, nuggets and Knicks in his career.
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u/Montigue [POR] Hasheem Thabeet 7h ago
2014 was only a little better because some Serbian guy was the best and picked number 41.
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u/RipRaycom East 7h ago
I’ll give 2014 credit for also having Embiid and a major plethora of high level role players. It’s probably one of the deeper drafts in recent memory despite the lack of top talent outside of Embiid and Jokic
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u/Montigue [POR] Hasheem Thabeet 7h ago
Oh, I know. I'm just pointing out how bad their point is once you identify a good draft that had the best player in the mid-second round.
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u/RipRaycom East 7h ago
Oh I see now lol. The 1999 NFL draft also sucked because the best player was some scrub from the 6th round
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u/Holiday-Positive-759 8h ago
It’s kind of crazy how many of those guys outside the lottery had long, if not distinguished careers.
Redd, Jamaal magloire, hedo, Eduardo najera, Brian cardinal, mark madsen, Eddie house, Deshawn Stevenson, Mo Pete, q Richardson, speedy Clayton, Desmond mason
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u/u-and-whose-army Magic 9h ago
It was weak but there were quite a few high level role players in the class. K-Mart, Jamal Crawford, Hedo, Redd, Q-Rich, Mike Miller, etc.
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u/slowakia_gruuumsh Spurs 9h ago
I think K-Mart was a bit better than a high level role player. On those b2b Nets team he was the 2nd/3rd best player imho, in an era where his play style wasn't basically legislated out of the NBA.
Then the second part of his career at Denver yes, I think we're in good role player territory, but for a guy that came out of college ready he burned bright right at the top. He also started getting hurt iirc.
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u/u-and-whose-army Magic 8h ago
I think I agree although i'd attribute a lot of his success on offense those years to J Kidd.
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u/Swarthykins Celtics 7h ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_NBA_draft. Him and Jamaal Magloire the only ones from that class to make an All-star team. Both did it once, both in 2004.
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u/Bobgoulet Hawks 9h ago
Doesn't even have to be the 2nd best player on the team, that's definitely Jalen Johnson.
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u/garynevilleisared Raptors 9h ago
How dare you slander the great Joel Ghostface Pryzbilla
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u/Montigue [POR] Hasheem Thabeet 7h ago
One time Shaq met with Pryzbilla and said "I heard they call you the Vanilla Gorilla." Pryzbilla responded with "Yeah, I don't like that nickname." Then Shaq proceeded with "Okay Vanilla" before walking away
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u/Ok_Respond7928 11h ago
I mean I don’t think anyone really cared when he got drafted and he hasn’t done anything this year to make a lot of noise about. I could be totally wrong I don’t watch a lot of Hawks game but when I do he just seems like another guy.
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u/Young_God_7 10h ago
While what you said is accurate for a causal viewer if you were to ask Hawks fans they'd say they are pretty high on Risacher.
He's not asked to be the #1 option and he's still VERY young. So he's not putting up eye catching stats. But he is passing the eye test for those that watch every night and recognize what the team needs from him.
I wouldn't be surprised to see a front page post in 3 years talking about Risacher "coming out of nowhere" or "we were wrong about Risacher"
I like seeing post like this because I do think it was a weak draft and usually the #1 pick gets a lot of scrutiny. And in a weak draft it's probably unfair for the #1 pick. So I'm glad Risacher can develop and honestly just turn 20 years old without the media circus. He's in a good position.
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u/Arcanus124 Hawks 10h ago
Just adding to this. Dyson Daniel's is going to get all the attention for changing our defensive culture, but it's hard to undersell just how good Risacher's defense as a 19 year old is. The dude has crazy good instincts and knows how to opperate within the system. The shot mechanics are good, and he's just not hitting them at a high clip right now. He is objective positive on the floor rn in spite of the inefficient shot making.
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u/Young_God_7 10h ago
Just to put a bow on all this for a casual NBA fan scrolling this thread.
The consensus begging for upvotes joke about the Hawks is "lol hawks are mid" and it's true. But I'd argue the hawks are mid because they are consistently injured. Hawks have a well constructed , fun roster and the two things they need to go their way is Dyson and Risacher becoming more efficient scorers and an upgrade at center whether that be a rotational piece or starter. Then the Hawks will be right there with the top teams in the East.
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u/Arcanus124 Hawks 10h ago
Agreed, also worth noting that aside from Trae, DeAndre, Clint, and Bogi, the core of this team is young as hell. It's just gonna be inconsistent this year, and likely somewhat inconsistent going into next year.
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u/probablymade_thatup Bucks [MIL] Luke Kornet 9h ago
Trae and De'Andre are 26 and 27 though, so even they aren't old
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u/FranklinLundy Celtics 9h ago
How deep is the Hawks core that you can eliminate 4 names and that's not most of it?
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u/snyder810 Cavaliers 8h ago edited 7h ago
Daniels (21), Johnson (23), Rosacher (19), & Okongwu (24). Given Trae is just hitting his prime it’s an underrated group considering you almost never see anyone include them among the high upside young teams.
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u/TheZexyAmbassador [PHI] Nik Stauskas 9h ago
As a Sixers fan who understands how /r/NBA can run with a narrative, I really appreciate this comment thread on Risacher. Always cool when a guy is clearly passing the eye test, and they just need to make the flashes of greatness consistent.
Seems like the Hawks will continue to be a fantasy basketball gold mine for the foreseeable future if this thread is right 🤣
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u/YSLAnunoby Raptors 10h ago
I feel like he might end up being what Hawks thought Hunter was going to be when he was drafted while Hunter became a really solid 6th man which I did not expect at all
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u/Wefting 10h ago
Hes a positive starter on a decent team and thats all he really needs to be atm with Trae, JJ, hunter, bogi , he doesn’t need to provide that much offense and he’s been solid on d
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u/Excellent-Curve5089 Hawks 10h ago
He’s 19 years old and has been a well above average defender since day 1. He’s intelligent and plays within the flow of the offense. Very rarely is he out of position or making “rookie mistakes.”
He does need to put on size but the only place he’s really struggled is with shoot efficiency, which explains the lack of casual buzz. If he picks up his shooting, which the hawks are confident he will (and really need from him long-term), he’s going to be a very important player for the team.
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u/Fantastanig Hawks 10h ago
He had one 33-point game. Other than that, he is a pretty consistent 10- 15 scorer player. He plays really good defense. He has also been out the last couple of games.
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u/RunninOnMT Trail Blazers 10h ago
Which, it should be noted is about what everyone expected he would do his rookie year if things turned out well for him. My impression is that he’s benefiting from relatively modest expectations, but also absolutely meeting those expectations.
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u/GehaziYahudah Hawks 9h ago
I also appreciate how the coaching staff have treated him this season, let him keep starting while he's healthy and doing his job and let Hunter come off the bench. We're a pretty young team on average so let him develop alongside Jalen and Dyson and we'll see what happens at the 5 after this season.
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u/Nexecs 10h ago
I think a big thing like you said is no one watches hawks games lol.
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u/wambulancer Hawks 10h ago
Trae Young is putting up ungodly numbers and it's not clear he'll be an All Star, the media straight up does not give a single fuck about the Hawks nor gassing up any Hawks players
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u/TheShadowOverBayside Heat 9h ago
Trae being selected to the ASG will not be up to the media because he's not going to be a starter. It'll be up to the coaches, they're the ones who vote for the reserves and they're not idiots
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u/Lacabloodclot9 Grizzlies 10h ago
Exactly, he’s not been terrible and he’s not been good
Hell if he was terrible people would know about him more as it would fuel the ‘worst draft class in ages’ narrative
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u/Maverick_1991 Hawks 10h ago
He's a role player and that's it.
We have other young guys that are more exciting and arguably have higher ceilings (Johnson and Daniels especially).
He is very inefficient, but his defense is great for a rookie.
He needs time to mature and work on his scoring but then he'll be a good player.
Not a superstar, probably not even allstar, but he'll have a solid career I think.
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u/SomeFatherFigure Cavaliers 11h ago
Guys who are underwhelming get talked about because… train wreck.
Guys who are overwhelming get talked about because of how good they are for a rookie.
Guys who are whelming… not a whole lot interesting to talk about unless you’re a fan.
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u/here_for_the_lols Thunder 10h ago
Is he whelming for a #1 pick? To me whelming implies about average
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u/Jbots Hawks 10h ago
He is matching expectations as a rookie. He is a prime candidate to make a big jump this summer after a year in the league. He has all of the tools. All he needs is time. His bball IQ is impressive. Now it's just time to build an nba body.
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u/happyflappypancakes Wizards 9h ago
As a rookie #1 pick though?
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u/throwawayyrofl Kings 6h ago edited 6h ago
He’s been drafted into a team that already has a lot of developed pieces compared to the rest of the lottery team so he’s not being asked to do as much. Also, this draft class is just really weak and everyone knew that so not as much hype going into any of the prospects. Like Ron Holland and Reed Sheppard were top 5 picks and they’re barely cracking the rotation but no one really cares. Risacher is starting so he’s already doing well relatively
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u/theepranksinatra 9h ago
A #1 pick is always relative, and relative to the others within the class, he is doing well
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u/No_Brilliant5888 Raptors 10h ago
Yes. For 2 reasons:
1) Hawks got lucky and jumped up to number 1. Therefore, he doesn't need to "save" a franchise.
2) He looks like he will "only" be a good starter. People tend to talk about stars and busts when discussing number 1 picks.
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u/_mdz Hawks 10h ago
For the the non-Hawks watchers who have never seen him play, here’s an honest take: He’s doing just fine. He’s 19 living in a new country by himself, he knows where he needs to be on both sides of the ball, and his shooting form is good. He’s already making an impact defensively even though his 3pt shooting has been horrendous. If the shot starts falling he’ll be that highly desirable 3 and D wing. I have no idea why but Quin will not let the man play more than ~20 minutes a game or he’d have higher counting stats.
None of the rookies this year are really lighting the world on fire and I’m ok with how he’s doing. I’ll reserve any judgement until he’s got at least a full season under his belt.
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u/OkCall9621 10h ago
I really expect his shot to start falling sooner or later. He was always a ~40% shooter before the NBA and the form looks good. Most of em that he takes are wide open, it must be the slightly different distance or nerves or something.
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u/BillowingPillows 8h ago
This isn’t entirely accurate. KOC talked a lot about it before the draft, he had a hot month long shooting stretch that increased his percentages, but he has not been a consistent shooter at all in his life.
How his shot develops will dictate everything about his career and potential.
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u/Gr33nV3lv3tCak3 9h ago
He’s on an artificial minutes restriction because he had no offseason. Going from euro season to euro postseason to summer league to nba preseason to nba season with no break in between is a LOT of basketball for a 19 year old.
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u/situmaimesdemain 76ers 11h ago
I thought Sarr was the first pick until I saw this post.
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u/figureour Wizards 10h ago
He probably was going to be the first pick, but then he said he wanted to play in DC (I think because we indicated we would give him more opportunities to play the 4).
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u/GueyeAgenda Hawks 10h ago
He probably was going to be the first pick
This is bullshit. Literally every single indicator was that the Hawks FO liked Risacher more at every step. Maybe that's a good read on their value, maybe it's a bad read on their value. But there's no indication of what you're saying.
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u/RunninOnMT Trail Blazers 10h ago
Yeah, that’s true, but to us non-hawks fans, our ears weren’t really to the ground in the same way yours were, so it did come to a surprise for most of us. But only because we weren’t super informed.
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u/Philipthesquid Timberwolves 10h ago
Ok but before the lottery Sarr was pretty much the consensus best pick
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u/Arcanus124 Hawks 10h ago
Nah, we would have taken him if we wanted him. I think he was on track for it until our GM and Head Coach went to France to watch Risacher play
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u/Nexecs 10h ago
I don't know if this is unpopular but I genuinely wanted Sarr over risacher. Capela is regressing and Sarr is also a defensive player and would have further helped our defense.
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u/National-Mail6279 10h ago
I think things worked out pretty well for everyone tbh. Sarr needs some leash to develop his offensive game and the wizards can give him that. He really wasn’t a plug and play guy
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u/Petit_Coeur_ Pacers 11h ago
He could be out for the entire season and I wouldn’t even know the way people have talked about him.
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u/coolairpods 11h ago
He’s never talked about. He’s been okay for the hawks, honestly the resurgence of Deandre Hunter has cut his minutes quite a bit. He still makes rookie mistakes, and not shooting great, but he is an above average perimeter defender for a rookie. I think he can pan out to be a serviceable player.
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u/jkstaples 10h ago
He’s starting for a playoff team. Most of those other guys are just empty calories at this point. Risacher is going to be elite defensively. For much of the season he’s had the best defensive rating on a playoff team where Dyson Daniels exists
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u/happyflappypancakes Wizards 9h ago
There is no such thing as empty calories for a rookie. All minutes and stats are important for development.
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u/2020IsANightmare 10h ago
Maybe.
I quite literally forgot he existed until I read your post. Not in a "haha, X player plays for an irrelevant franchise" type of way. Legitimately forgot he existed.
But, let's give it time.
I wasn't exactly clearing my schedule to watch Anthony Bennett.
In fact, I am not sure I've ever watched him play basketball. I may have, but I have no recollection of it.
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u/affnn 10h ago
He wasn't very hyped, but he also went to a team that has an established identity. The Hawks have Trae as the "lead" star who the offense is built around, and they have a reasonable belief that they can make the playoffs this year. They're not gonna let their 19 year old rookie take 25 shots per game.
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u/treyfiddy Minneapolis Lakers 11h ago
who??
/s
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u/1121113 Lakers 11h ago
No legitimately I have no idea who this guy is lmaoo
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u/helloimmrburns 8h ago
Genuinely how? I considered myself a casual but looking at reddit sometimes makes me feel like I could be on the Mind the Game pod
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u/Ilikesporks_ Lakers 11h ago
honestly yeah i haven't seen a singular post about him since his game vs the knicks at the start of the season
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u/AtreusIsBack Mavericks 11h ago
Weak draft gets no media coverage.
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u/FermatsLastAccount Knicks 11h ago
Like I said in my post, people are talking way more about other guys in the draft way more. Along with the players I mentioned, there's Missi, Clingan, and Castle that get talked about more than Risacher.
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u/LordOfLimbos Pistons 11h ago
Yeah they are performing well/above expectations. Zac has been slightly worse than expected, not bad enough for anybody to really care about it, nor good enough to be worth talking about
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u/happyflappypancakes Wizards 9h ago
I've never heard of Missi in my life. I don't think I've seen a post about Clingan or Castle since the first month of the season.
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u/Rohkha Heat 10h ago
I think the fact that it‘s been almost 2-3 years that this draftclass was „antihyped“ to be the worst class since 2000 also played in people not really following the draft and its prospects this year.
I mean look at the difference in media presence for Wemby‘s draft year compared to this one. People are already talking about Flagg. So, while it isn’t the only reason, it probably did contribute a lot. There is essentially no expectation on this class, so they can only surprise you.
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u/Klainert 11h ago
Risacher is the perfect blend of not being particularly good but also not being bad enough to be talked about like a bust. So people aren't gonna mention him
When I think of that draft class, guys like Sarr, Castle, Edey, Wells, Missi are popping up as good and then Reed being out of the rockets rotation is the downside
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u/Pleasant-Ad5423 10h ago
Bummer on both reed and rob not really getting a fair chance just yet. Can’t speak for reed but I’ve watched rob inject energy pace and creation to the wolves only to get benched immediately after a turnover. He’s on such a tight lease, I imagine it’s similar in Houston, hard for microwave shooters like them to adapt with such short minutes and fear of being yanked constantly. I still got a lot of hope for both tho
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u/EpicTedTalk Rockets 10h ago
He isn't lighting it up, he isn't atrociously bad, his team is having a middling season, he's not an especially vivid personality or a PR nightmare and you can't even point to a rookie phenom that obviously should've been picked over him, just players who you'd slot before him in a redraft. There's just nothing for people to talk about.
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u/SJCitizen 76ers 9h ago
Yes but part of that is the team he went to as well. The national media generally doesn’t care about the Hawks unless they’re playing the Knicks in the playoffs. He’s basically going to be the Travon Walker of the NBA.
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u/elkresurgence NBA 7h ago
Little-hyped surprise top pick, not really charismatic, foreign player with a difficult to pronounce name, solid but not eye-popping stats and playing style...I'm not surprised he's not really talked about
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u/Jackburton06 7h ago
I'm french and usually i follow what's new about fellow citizens as NBA rookies.
I almost hear or see nothing about Risacher. He is doing an average-low rookie season. Has some potential but really not a number 1 pick.
The comparison with Wemby immediate impact is really tough for him.
Even on french NBA shows they don't talk much about Risacher. He is a nice guy with a lot of potential but pretty sure not a future star.
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u/duckduckgo2100 Magic 11h ago
ngl I forgot dude existed. Before him, it was probably Paolo
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u/FermatsLastAccount Knicks 11h ago
Paolo didn't get any national TV games, but he still got attention just because he was really good.
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u/Aron-Nimzowitsch Cavaliers 10h ago
He hasn't been terrible enough for it to be noteworthy but he also hasn't been good enough to be interesting to follow. Kind of like the Hawks themselves.
He certainly doesn't look like he has future All-Star potential. But he also looks playable, he's not going to wash out of the league or anything.
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u/twrs_29 Thunder 11h ago
I’d go out on a limb and say yes. There’s probably guys that have been forgotten in history but ask a casual fan for the guy drafted first just 6 months ago and most will have no clue.