Alexandre Sarr gets candid about facing Hawks' Zaccharie Risacher

The Atlanta Hawks are winless through two 2024 Las Vegas Summer League games, but they have seen promising flashes from rookie No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher. 

His most encouraging performance came in the Hawks’ Summer League opener when he had 18 points, five rebounds, two assists, and one block. The Hawks lost. But the game also pitted Risacher against his French Junior National team teammate, Alexandre Sarr.

Sarr talked about playing against Risacher in an interview with Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina.

“It was really nice. I knew him from three years ago. It’s always nice when I’m able to play against him. It was a great game,” Risacher told Medina in an interview shared on July 16. “We played for the same team and same national team. We were competing on the same team, so we were trying to win a medal with France. It was always nice getting together in the summer.”

Risacher more than held his own in the opener against the player projected to go No. 1 overall when the Hawks first landed the pick in Sarr.

He was less effective in his second outing versus the San Antonio Spurs.

Risacher still finished with 11 points. But after shooting 43.8% from the floor and going 3-for-9 from beyond the arc versus the Wizards, he shot 33.3% overall and was 1-for-7 from deep versus the Spurs.

He did record five rebounds and two assists. But the rookie was 2-for-5 from the free throw line against the Wizards.

The Hawks will take on the 0-2 Los Angeles Lakers in their next outing on July 18.

Former projected Hawks pick struggling in Las Vegas Summer League

Sarr’s Summer League experience has been less-than-stellar. He had 12 points, seven boards, four assists, four blocks, and one steal versus the Hawks. He was also inefficient, shooting 33.3% from the floor, though he was 2-for-5 from deep. 

Sarr followed that with an eight-point effort against the Houston Rockets and then went scoreless on 15 shots (0-for-7 3P) versus the Portland Trail Blazers on July 16.

He is averaging 6.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 3.0 blocks in Summer League.

Sarr declined to work out for Atlanta before the draft. Hawks general manager Landry Fields said they had the big man scheduled only for his camp to cancel. But the Hawks also became enamored with Risacher during the pre-draft process.

The Hawks also picked between Risacher and Rockets rookie Reed Sheppard, the No. 3 pick of the class, per CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander.