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Hawks' Zaccharie Risacher mistake goes beyond Alex Sarr

The Zaccharie Risacher era with the Atlanta Hawks lasted two seasons.

Rarely does a No. 1 overall pick's tenure end up being that short, but he was traded on Sunday to the Dallas Mavericks as part of a deal bringing Lu Dort and Ryan Nembhard to Atlanta.

It provides a moment to look back at the 2024 NBA Draft, when the Hawks chose Risacher first.

It was acknowledged as a weaker class, but it's also clear in retrospect that Risacher wasn't the best pick.

Even at the time, some analysts had him ranked closer to No. 10 in the class than No. 1.

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The Washington Wizards took Alex Sarr second, and the other French youngster atop the draft has already looked like a player with more upside.

The Rockets took Reed Sheppard third, and he hasn't had much chance to shine yet.

The obvious early winner of that class is Stephon Castle and the Spurs at the fourth pick.

Some picks were worse than Risacher, like Ron Holland and Tidjane Salaun at five and six.

Donovan Clingan went seventh and would've been a solid center for Atlanta to have, but centers don't go first anymore.

Rob Dillingham at eight has looked like a bust. Zach Edey went ninth, another center. Cody Williams 10th to Utah? Total bust.

Players that were never in contention to go No. 1 but look solid so far include Matas Buzelis at 11, Kel'el Ware at 15, and to a lesser extent, Jared McCain at 16, Jaylon Tyson at 20 and Yves Missi at 21.

One of the best picks of the first round came at 24, when the Knicks picked Kyshawn George for an immediate trade to the Wizards.

So what should the Hawks take from this?

They had a lot more chance of getting this pick wrong than right. It's just too bad they had the No. 1 pick in the year between Victor Wembanyama and Cooper Flagg.

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