Zaccharie Risacher was not selected for the Rising Stars Game this season, marking the first time in recent memory that a first overall pick was not invited to the event.
Jalen Wells was the final inclusion to the Rising Stars sophomore cast, and I would personally argue Risacher is clearly better. The stat sheet, however, does not agree. The two have nearly identical statistical profiles, with Wells having the more endearing story as a nearly undrafted player who found a home on a dismal Memphis squad.
If I – a believer in Risacher – can only find one player wrongly included above him, then we have a bigger problem than just the Rising Stars Game.
Cade Cunningham was the most recent top pick to not be invited, but he suffered a season-ending injury just 12 games into his sophomore season. Before Cunningham, you have to go all the way back to Markelle Fultz to find a healthy first pick who failed to make the event.
Fultz is not the company Risacher wants to keep, to put it kindly.
Hopefully, this serves as a wake-up call to all parties involved
Risacher has struggled this season. He’s clearly nursing a chronic injury of some sort, as evidenced by his strange minutes restriction. But Risacher gets no grace for this, as Quin Snyder and the organization refuse to comment on the nature of the condition. This has led to tensions flaring, most notably when Risacher let Snyder hear his displeasure during a game against the Knicks.
Regardless of his injury status, however, it is unacceptable for the first overall pick to not be selected for the Rising Star game. Risacher has a few critical steps he must take to recover from his early-career struggles.
First, he must establish himself as an elite help defender. The French forward doesn’t quite have the instinctive one-on-one prowess to be a perimeter lockdown, but he has a tantalizing combination of fluidity and length. In certain stretches, he has been a truly amazing help-side defender – but these moments are few and far between. If he can improve his consistency in this regard, the sky is the limit concerning his defensive impact.
On offense, Risacher must simply become more comfortable. There is nothing wrong with his statistical profile on offense, but there is also nothing remarkable. He’s shooting fewer shots from two and three point range per game, despite playing the same amount of minutes a night. The Hawks drafted Risacher for his hot three point ability – even if he’s streaky, he needs to be shooting the pill.
By no means is it game over for Risacher. He still holds the athletic traits and deep shooting ability that led to Landry Fields’ infatuation with him during the 2024 offseason. Like his teammate Dyson Daniels, Risacher’s confidence is too low – and this slight from the NBA won’t help.