Atlanta Hawks superstar Trae Young was asked to evaluate the talent of the 2024 draft class entering the league this season. The Hawks selected Zaccharie Risacher with the No.1 pick this past offseason and traded away Dejounte Murray to retool the team.
The Hawks are coming off consecutive mid-table finishes in the East after making the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021. Atlanta tried to reshuffle the deck, hoping to have more success in the coming years building around Trae Young.
They received the first selection in the 2024 NBA draft in a season that there was no a clear-cut superstar coming into the league.
“No disrespect to the guys that got drafted, from the out looking in, and some guys might surprise us, but a lot of us look at them as role players coming in anyway,” Trae Young said on Podcast P with Paul George, via clutchpoints.
You name the last three No.1 picks, you’ve got Victor [Wembanyama], you got Ant Edwards, you’ve got some big-time names.”
“None of these guys whether it’s Reed [Sheppard], who is going to be a hell of an NBA player or Alex [Sarr], who didn’t play well in Summer League, but is going to be a hell of an NBA player, a lot of these guys could be just role players, so you’re really just trying to figure out who is going to be the best role player for their team.”
Trae Young’s statement holds truth regarding the projection of this year’s rookie clash. However, there are still exceptions to the rule, as several big-time superstars entered the league through draft classes of underwhelming star talent.
For the Hawks, Zaccharie Risacher seems to fit the needs of the team adding a young sizable wing with experience against professional basketball players. Risacher played in LDLC ASVEL and Bourg en Bresse before for three seasons before entering the NBA draft.
