Zaccharie Risacher has finally been cleared for a return to action.
Having missed over two weeks of NBA game action, the Hawks assigned the young French phenom to their G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks, where he will join fellow young stud Asa Newell.
Newell was also recently assigned to the Skyhawks. In his one-game stint, he posted a sensational stat line of 29-12-7-3-3 against the Celtics' G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics.
Newell appeared to possess a sort of disgruntled, prove-it sense about himself as he masterfully exhibited his next-level talents against the weaker G League competition.
The only factor keeping Newell from cracking the core of the Hawks' current rotation, unfortunately, is simply how stacked the roster is. Outside of Newell, there appear to be ten other competent, starting-caliber (or higher) players that coach Quin Snyder has at his disposal on a nightly basis.
While Newell may maintain a longer tenure with the Skyhawks purely for this reason, Risacher is expected to play just the one game with the Hawks' G League affiliate prior to his inevitable return to Snyder's rotation, where he has been inconsistent at best.
The Skyhawks offer Risacher the same opportunity as they did Newell last game
The Skyhawks next play on Tuesday against the Lakers' G League affiliate team, the South Bay Lakers. This showdown represents a golden opportunity for Risacher to prove himself, just as Newell was so gracefully able to do last game against the Maine Celtics.
Believe without a shadow of a doubt that Coach Snyder will be watching – or at least, watching the recording of the game film of Risacher's performance on Tuesday. Quin has, time and again, limited Risacher's minutes, especially in down-to-the-wire 4th quarter situations, after the youngster makes a minor lapse.
While veteran players are more immune to such mistakes – or at least, being punished for such small errors – Risacher, as any other rookie/sophomore would be (see Kel'el Ware on the Miami Heat with Coach Spoelstra), is not. The only issue is Risacher's draft selection; the fact that Snyder is benching the former 1st overall pick so freely looks far worse than Spoelstra benching Ware (a late lottery pick), for instance.
While it may be difficult for Risacher to cast off the lingering cloud of high 1st-pick expectations that continues to loom large over his blossoming young career, this upcoming game against the South Bay Lakers offers him a fresh start to prove his elite talents are being underutilized in the Hawks' main rotation.
We believe in you, Zacch.