The Atlanta Hawks have had an interesting offseason. They knew that changes had to be made to their roster and they have gone about this offseason trying to get bigger, add defense, and make this roster make more sense around star point guard Trae Young. They have done that and one of the players that they have added is No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher. The Hawks made one of the most stunning jumps up to the No.1 pick after winning the NBA Draft Lottery with only a 3% chance to do so and landed on Risacher as the guy that they wanted to help this franchise.
Young was courtside to watch the Hawks take on the San Antonio Spurs earlier in Summer League and he talked about what he liked from Risacher so far:
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have been texting him, sending him messages back and forth. He is talented, he is smart, he can make the right reads and I know our coach Quin (Snyder) has told him to be aggressive and I know he has not gotten up as many shots up today as I would like, but he is a smart player and he is going to be really good in this league"
Yesterday, Young went on "Podcast P (presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment)" and he talked about Risacher and this incoming 2024 draft class with 76ers forward Paul George:
"I spoke with him. A lot of people were talking about how I didn't tweet about 'em or stuff on draft day and things like that. I've always done that and stuff, but I messaged him behind the scenes right before Summer League and just shot him some good luck. Just stuff like that and just stuff that people, I don't even care for people to know, but obviously they're going to know now. But, I talked to him a little bit behind the scenes. We ain't got to work out yet, but he played right before summer league too overseas…I mean to be honest with you, and no disrespect to the guys that got drafted, I mean from the outside looking in…a lot of us look at them as role players coming in anyway….I feel like the GMs all this year are probably just trying to figure out who's going to be the best role player for their team. As good as Alex Sarr is I don't think he's going to be their [Washington Wizards] franchise player going forward. You know what I'm saying? He's going to be a great, great player, have a long NBA career, but just the outlook on any of these guys coming in. It wasn't like they were going to be Luka [Doncic] type guys or Zions [Williamson] you know what I'm saying? Zions."
Young also talked about the pairing between him and Dejounte Murray, who was traded this summer to the New Orleans Pelicans:
“I mean it was good and bad, you know what I'm saying? The only bad part is we didn't get to win as much as we wanted to be honest with you. The good part is we have a lifelong relationship. Our relationship goes outside of basketball. We're both family men. Our morals are very much similar as far as who we have around us…The way we get along off the court is forever. That's why our relationship is forever. But on the court, it’s just tough. We wanted to win but it's just sometimes we're not the first duo that couldn't work and we're not going to be the last…it just didn't work out on the court and it sucks. It sucks and we both admitted it sucks and that's just part of the game. If it doesn't work, teams have to figure out what to do next and make moves.”
I think it was tough. Both very unselfish in ways so it's like there were times early where I'm just, I'm passing it to him and he wants to be aggressive but he's a point guard too, so he's not, you know what I'm saying, thinking score first all the time. But when I'm on the court sometimes he's a shooting guard, but sometimes, you know what I'm saying? So it's kind of like the combination just kind of didn't work and on paper you may think it would because I mean in San Antonio he is a really good defender, known as just a defender, wasn't really known as a scorer, but just a defender can kind of do everything. Rebound score, but get other guys involved. But when he came to us… it's just a different feel and so it just sucks it didn't work.”
Both Young and Murray are very good players, but sometimes it just does not work. Murray should fit well in New Orleans, while the pieces that the Hawks have acquired this summer, particularly Dyson Daniels and Risacher, seem to fit with Young and this new Hawks identity. The Hawks have a chance to be a better team this year with these guys around Young.
