Hawks finally made the Zaccharie Risacher move we all knew was coming

The Atlanta Hawks will bench Zaccharie Risacher in favor of CJ McCollum for Sunday’s game, marking Risacher’s first bench appearance since his second career game. While this is an emotionally heavy move, it should improve both Atlanta’s short-term record and Risacher’s long-term development.

As we all remember, Risacher was the first overall pick less than two years ago. There’s no way around it; he’s had an underwhelming second season. Former top picks are seldom benched this early in their career. 

Hawks fans have been frustrated with Risacher’s offensive inconsistency throughout the season, most recently illustrated by his 1/8 performance from the field in Atlanta’s Friday night disaster against the Heat. While his defense has improved significantly since his rookie year, Risacher can stick out like a sore thumb in an already weak offensive starting lineup.

The new Hawks starting five features McCollum and Nickeil Alexander-Walker at guard, Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson at the forward posts, and Onyeka Okongwu manning the five.

Don’t fret, this is the right move

McCollum is a much more natural fit in the starting five. Johnson has made remarkable strides as a halfcourt creator this season, but he isn’t quite a one-man engine. Risacher, Alexander-Walker, and Daniels have all had intriguing offensive moments, but none of these players are truly equipped to handle the secondary scoring role in a competitive NBA starting five.

McCollum was tailor-made for this role. His pick and roll prowess provides a distraction from Johnson, allowing Atlanta’s star to operate in a more open floor. The data backs up this observation: the Hawks’ offensive rating jumps by 5.8 points when McCollum is swapped for Risacher, per Cleaning the Glass.

Atlanta had their lowest-scoring first quarter of the season in their last game against the Heat, dropping an embarrassing 16 points over 12 minutes. This move should help the Hawks remain competitive on offense in the opening frame against stifling defenses like Miami’s.

Risacher’s demotion serves two purposes: as a wake-up call and a way to improve fit.

Risacher was inserted into the starting lineup in the second game of his career for De’Andre Hunter. While this looked impressive to those unfamiliar with the Hawks, Hunter was just as much to credit as Risacher. Atlanta’s other disappointing top-five forward would be traded to Cleveland later that season, where he was then shipped off again a year later. Rischer was indeed an improvement over Hunter, but that was a relatively low bar.

Two seasons later, Quin Snyder is sending a message to Risacher: his starting spot is not untouchable, even at the cost of shame to the franchise. Many teams would be afraid of the embarrassment of benching such a recent top pick and artificially keep Risacher in a starting role. Not Snyder, however.

Outside of sending a message, this lineup change should improve Risacher’s performance. His rangy defense has much more room to shine in Atlanta’s infamously porous bench defense. One of Snyder’s favorite big man combinations is Jock Landale and Asa Newell, and both of these players are weak defenders.

This weakness gives Risacher more opportunities to affect the game while playing as the “free safety” of the defense, his ideal role. On the other end of the court, he will have more latitude to experiment with less creation-heavy teammates and against weaker defenders.

Atlanta will tip off minutes after publishing. Be sure to tune in and catch the new starting five.