Hawks take French teen Risacher with NBA draft first pick

The Atlanta Hawks selected teenage French forward Zaccharie Risacher with the first overall pick of the NBA draft.

It is the second year running that a French player has been chosen first. Last year there was little doubt Victor Wembanyama would be the number one pick, whereas this year Risacher and fellow Frenchman Alexandre Sarr have frequently traded places atop mock drafts over the past month.

Risacher, 19, is 6ft 9in and weighed in at 195 pounds at the draft combine in May, having most recently played in the French top flight for JL Bourg-en-Bresse. "[It's] so exciting," he told ESPN. "There's a lot of feelings and emotions right now. I don't know what to say, I'm so blessed."

The Washington Wizards took Sarr, also 19, with the second overall pick after the centre spent the 2023-24 campaign with the Perth Wildcats of Australia's National Basketball League. It marked the third time in NBA draft history that the top two picks had no college experience, although Sarr's brother Olivier, 25, is a centre with Oklahoma City Thunder.