Trae Young apparently doesn’t expect much from No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher this season

The Atlanta Hawks used the No. 1 pick in the draft on Zaccharie Risacher, the French winger with a lot of upside.

Apparently, Trae Young doesn’t expect much from him this season. Most of the time, when a team’s star player talks about a draft pick, it’s in cliché terms about how much he likes the game or the rookie’s work ethic, and always about potential. However, when Young participated in Podcast P with Paul Georgehe wasn’t softening the reaction to this recruiting class and Risacher, specifically.

“I spoke to him. A lot of people were talking about how I didn’t tweet about them or stuff like that on draft day and stuff like that. I’ve always done that and stuff, but I texted him backstage right before Summer League and just told him good luck. Stuff like that… We don’t need to work out yet, but he played right before summer league overseas…

“I mean, to be honest with you, and no disrespect to the guys that got drafted, I mean, looking from the outside… a lot of us look at them as actors who come in anyway…. I feel like GMs this whole year are probably just trying to figure out who’s going to be the best player for their team. As good as Alex Sarr is, I don’t think he will be theirs. [Washington Wizards] franchise player going forward. Do you know what I’m saying? He’s going to be a great, great player, he’s going to have a long NBA career, but just the prospect of any of these guys coming in. [Doncic] type guys or Zions [Williamson]Do you know what I’m saying?”

Two quick thoughts.

First, Young just summarized virtually every analysis from every scout on this draft. One or two players will stand out and become stars, but this is a class full of players.

Secondly, Risacher may be one of those breakout stars, but Young is right that this season they shouldn’t expect too much from him. Risacher is an incredibly graceful and fluid athlete who showed flashes at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, but also had moments where he just floated during games., not impacting much.

Risacher averaged 14.5 points per game on 39% shooting in Las Vegas (25% from 3). He has a lot of work to do to get stronger, learn how to defend and navigate screens, and feel comfortable shooting the rock at the pace and space of an NBA game. By watching Risacher, you can also see how all this could happen in a few years.

Just don’t expect too much from Risacher this year. Trae Young is not.