Atlanta Hawks Draft Class Analysis

The Atlanta Hawks tested their safety on lottery night and despite only having a 3% chance of winning the lottery, they ended up with the number one overall pick. It was the first time in franchise history that the Hawks had taken the number one pick and they clearly took it seriously as they explored all of their options with that pick.

Let’s take a closer look at each choice they made and a summary of their project.

The top pick in this year’s draft was Zaccharie Risacher from France. Assuming the Hawks are still trying to contend while Trae Young is still on the roster, there’s some logic behind that pick. Risacher is considered one of the safest picks in this year’s draft. At 6-foot-10, the fluid winger is a very good 3-point shooter.

He can shoot catches and is able to run off screens and hit jump shots. I wouldn’t say he’s an elite shooter, but he’s certainly very good. Defensively, he’s been great at the point of attack because he has the lateral quickness, size, and length to disrupt the flow of the primary playmaker. Assuming the Hawks keep the rest of their core together, it looks like Risacher will be the starting small forward for the team next season.

He immediately projects as a 3-and-D wing, which should be a great fit for Young. The biggest concern with this pick is that if the Hawks decide to go into rebuild mode and move on from Young, they’ll have to rely on Risacher to take on more of the ball-handling responsibilities, but he hasn’t shown any real potential or signs of being a primary or secondary ball-creator on the team.

The Hawks took another international wing prospect in the second round, Nikola Djurisic from Serbia. It’s a solid pick for the Hawks considering where they drafted him. The 6-foot-8 winger finished the season in incredible fashion for KK Mega Basket, as he averaged 19.6 points and 3.7 assists per game over the final nine games of the season.

Djurisic is best at scoring, as he’s a tough shooter who has a fluid jump shot. He’s most comfortable shooting from mid-range, but he can also finish at the rim and is a capable 3-point shooter. The Serbian wing has shown good passing vision and has the skills to be a secondary or third-line playmaker in the NBA.

The two biggest question marks for Djurisic are whether he’ll be a consistent enough shooter to be considered a serious threat from beyond the arc, and whether he’ll be a solid defensive presence? I wouldn’t expect him to see a ton of valuable minutes right away, but in a few years, Djurisic could find himself in a Bogdan Bogdanovic-esque role.

In the grand scheme of things, the Hawks improved their wing depth after losing two wingers by trading sophomore AJ Griffin and letting Saddiq Bey leave in free agency. Risacher may not be the most polarizing or elite prospect, but he brings shooting and defense that were somewhat lacking in the Hawks’ lineup a season ago. The main problem with their top pick is that he doesn’t have the same ceiling as a guy like Alex Sarr.

Now, with that being said, Sarr didn’t want to train with the Hawks and all signs pointed to him not wanting to play in Atlanta, so that could certainly factor into the Hawks’ decision to draft Risacher. The 6-foot-10 winger could end up being the Michael Porter Jr. role for the Hawks, which is certainly valuable since Porter was huge for the Denver Nuggets, winning his first NBA championship in 2023. This was just a bad draft for the Hawks. They didn’t manage to “steal” any of their picks and seemed to focus more on conditioning than the best player available.

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