The NBA values buckets, to put it simply. Put another way, things like defense and efficiency, even assists and rebounds, come in – in some order – behind scoring. Atlanta Hawks rookie Zaccharie Risacher is the latest victim of that.
Risacher did not win Rookie of the Year, an award he had always trailed in the voting for despite being the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 NBA Draft.
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle won.
Risacher did finish second, which is nothing to sneeze at. However, it does highlight the singular focus with which the league’s voters appear to be beholden. Risacher’s overall numbers were quite remarkable, many of which led his class.
Zacch among rookies:
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) April 29, 2025
🇫🇷 Only player in top-5 in usage, total PTS, FG, 3-PT FG, & FT
🇫🇷 Most 30-point games (4) and highest single game total (38)
🇫🇷 Highest PPG as a starter on postseason team (12.6 ppg)
🇫🇷 Only player since Jan. 1 to average at least 14.0 points on 50% FG, 40%… pic.twitter.com/CoGMMI779I
Castle won a host of metrics, enough that his victory is hard to refute.
However, part of what made Risacher an appealing candidate is that he not only was a more efficient player, but he was counted on in the Hawks’ starting lineup after just two games. Castle appeared in all 81 games, besting Risacher by six outings.
The Spurs youngster only started 47 contests, though. Risacher also remained as close to Castle as he did despite being the No. 3 option at best for a large swath of the campaign.
Risacher posted better offensive and defensive ratings, per Stathead.
Zaccharie Risacher's ROTY snub proves once again that scoring is king
There is no argument about team success, either. The Spurs were 12th in the Western Conference standings when Victor Wembanyama was lost for the season to blood clots and did not improve with Castle in a starring role.
With Wembanyama down, Castle averaged 3.2 more PPG and 3.8 APG than Risacher did with the Hawks. He also tallied 1.2 more RPGs.
Per Cleaning The Glass, Castle finished the season with a minus-4.8 on-off differential.
Risacher’s mark was minus-4.2, with the two rookies each owning a sizeable advantage on one side of the ball over the other. Volume may have won Castle the Rookie of the Year award, but it was specifically scoring volume.
One could argue with a Hawks curse after seeing Dyson Daniels and Trae Young looked over for Defensive Player of the Year and Clutch Player of the Year, respectively.
Young also has annual battles with making the All-Star team despite being deserving.
But a simpler answer could be the fact that Risacher was kept off the floor in the fourth quarter of games far too often. He only has 64 games in which he saw the court in the fourth quarter, and he averaged 5.5 minutes in the final frame.
That is the 12th-most among rookies with at least 60 fourth quarters played during the 2024-25 regular season.
It is fair to be upset that Risacher missed out on the award, another for the Hawks.
There will even be questions about whether or not the Hawks made the right decision with the No. 1 overall pick. Anyone that watched the Hawks and Risacher regular, though, knows that his impact went far beyond scoring or even anything that might show up in the box score.
And to top it all off, his team was fighting for the playoffs with him playing a central role in their approach on both ends of the court.