The Hawks' three-team deal this summer sending out Zaccharie Risacher to acquire Lu Dort was out of left field, in typical fashion during Onsi Saleh's tenure as GM in Atlanta.
While acquiring Lu Dort to form one of the most fearsome defensive trios in the NBA was no doubt a shrewd move - not only for the current Hawks, but well into the future - the other half of the exchange may not be so one-sided.
Zaccharie Risacher certainly didn't live up to expectations in the A, but many believe he simply needed a change of scenery to realize his full potential. A recent ranking by Sports Illustrated charted the Mavericks' move to acquire Zacch amongst the best "under the radar" moves this summer.
Did Saleh sell too early, allowing the Mavericks to capitalize on Risacher's high ceiling, or was it a true "sell high" move?
The risk of selling at perceived peak value - the truth of Risacher's ceiling
"Selling high" is almost never truly selling high in the NBA (or anywhere, for that matter).
In today's NBA, teams and their respective systems are so vastly different than one another that one landing spot may allow an individual to thrive, while another may render them entirely useless and out of the rotation.
I would be shocked if Risacher suddenly turned into an All-Star level talent - or for that matter, at any point in his career.
That being said, Risacher could easily develop into a serviceable 3&D wing with plus size and mobility - a coveted archetype no matter where you search for an answer amongst all thirty NBA GMs.
That's the bad news for Hawks fans - and where Sports Illustrated is unequivocally correct. Risacher's untapped ceiling from his Atlanta days could easily wind up complementing Cooper Flagg, Derek Lively, and Morez Johnson perfectly, as he flourishes in a fresh environment in Dallas.
The good news, however, is that selling Risacher at his current value is unlikely to rival other similar moves, like Daryl Morey's infamous "sell high" quote regarding trading away Jared McCain to the Thunder last season.
After all, acquiring Lu Dort certainly offsets any worry about Risacher's potential growth apart from the Hawks - right?
Was it even necessary to deal away Risacher at all to acquire Dort?
Unfortunately, dealing away Risacher may never have been necessary.
The three-team deal that took place earlier this summer saw the Mavericks acquire Risacher for pennies on the dollar. OKC simply needed to offload cap space in Dort, opting to take on minimal assets in exchange (multiple low-value second round picks).
Atlanta could very easily have excluded Dallas entirely from the deal, reaching slightly deeper into their 2nd-round coffers and finding another team willing to take on a similar contract to Risacher's to make the cap space work (e.g., Brooklyn or Memphis), like Buddy Hield or Corey Kispert.
Should Risacher thrive in Dallas, the Dort deal may very well go down as the first real blunder of the Onsi Saleh era. Fortunately, if that's the worst mark on an otherwise sensational new era in Atlanta with Saleh, the Hawks are still in fantastic shape for the future.
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