Peachtree Hoops Roundtable: What do you expect from Zaccharie Risacher?

Ahead of the start of the 2024-25 NBA season, we had some important questions that needed to be answered about this Atlanta Hawks team. This is the second of many roundtable topics we weigh in on here at Peachtree Hoops. The first one can be found Here.

What do you expect from Zaccharie Risacher in his rookie season?

We s – For me, Risacher just needs to show confidence, put in the effort and stay healthy for this season to be a success. There is no need for him to go out and prove that he is not equal to the others. 1 picks over the years – just play his role and fit in. If he can give the Hawks more than 60 appearances, an efficient 12+ points per night, 35+% shooting from three games and a contribution in other “little things” areas such as rebounding and team defense it will be a great success, the perfect one in the long term Finding a complement for Trae and Jalen.

Hassan – Am I being too conservative in predicting a Keegan Murray-style rookie season for Risacher? Murray (the fourth overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft) was almost three years older in his rookie season than Risacher will be, but he was also considered a ready-made NBA winger without quite star level in his first season. Design process.

As a rookie, Murray's usage rate (13.8%) was only in the 29th percentile of all forwards, although he was productive with the touches he did get, averaging 12.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists while He shot 41% from downtown (over six three-point attempts per game) for a Kings team that ultimately finished third in the Western Conference. While I would be surprised if Risacher played as much as Murray – who started 78 games as a rookie and averaged 29.8 minutes per night – with Jalen Johnson and fan favorite De'Andre Hunter still ahead of him in Atlanta's pecking order on the wing I expect him to be impressive and efficient in a medium to low usage role this season.

Joe- I expect a very solid season from Risacher. He'll definitely have a good chance if he's there, and I'm sure Snyder is preaching that to him. We've already seen progress in his playmaking and scoring ability outside of shooting. He just needs to be solid defensively given his size and length, but it will be fun to see him compete against some of the tougher players if Daniels or Hunter misses a game. Overall, I would expect between 11 and 14 points per game, perhaps 37% from beyond the arc. I expect his defense to be somewhere between solid and good, but it's always fun to watch a guy like him who always does his best on both ends.

Graham – I think Risacher is in a unique situation where there isn't as much pressure on him early in the season as there would otherwise be. That's why he's perfectly fine with coming off the bench and settling into NBA life. I expect Risacher to go through the usual ups and downs of a rookie, I expect him to come off the bench, he brings energy off the bench, he brings some defense and I think he shoots well enough in his rookie season .

From what we're hearing from the Hawks, he's working his ass off and clearly has the talent, so I expect there to be some good development over the course of the season, so that he'll end up in the starting lineup at the end of the season will stand. I think Risacher is in for a strong rookie season and I think he can end up averaging 10-12 points.