It’s always easier for teams to admit a mistake and move on when there’s a different decision-maker in charge. The Atlanta Hawks did so Sunday by bidding adieu to the top pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Atlanta sent Zaccharie Risacher and two second-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder to get defensive stopper Luguentz Dort. Risacher heads to the Dallas Mavericks in a three-team deal, while reserve point guard Ryan Nembhard comes to Atlanta. The Mavs kicked in a second-round pick that also goes to the Thunder.
It’s an ignominious end to Risacher’s time in Atlanta. After winning the 2024 draft lottery for an underwhelming class, the Hawks’ front office under the since-departed Landry Fields was lured into drafting for fit rather than talent with the top pick. They ended up with neither.
Atlanta hoped Risacher could plug a glaring need at small forward to boost a roster built around Trae Young. Not only was Risacher unable to fit the bill, but the Hawks benched him in the second half of the 2025-26 season as other players moved past him in the rotation. Once Jonathan Kuminga and Corey Kispert arrived via midseason trades, Risacher was squeezed out. His only rotation minutes in the six-game playoff series against the New York Knicks came in a forgettable two-minute stint in Game 1.
Risacher underwhelmed for a top pick, but he wasn’t unplayable: He finished his age-20 season with an 11.9 PER and a 55.7 true-shooting percentage, marks which make him a viable rotation player. And at his age, there remains the chance for much more. He was well-liked in Atlanta and considered a hard worker, although the soft whispers from NBA scouts that attached to him as a draft prospect never fully went away. In a news conference shortly after Risacher was removed from the starting lineup, Hawks coach Quin Snyder implored him to play more aggressively and attack the glass.
Financially, if Risacher was going to play sparingly this coming season, it was hard to justify a $13 million salary or picking up an option for $17.4 million in 2027-28. That was especially true on a roster that needed more shooting than he could provide.
The Mavs gave up a second-round pick and used a trade exception to bring in Risacher, so one presumes they have some interest in his talents. However, on a crowded Dallas roster with eleventyseven other forwards — including, ironically, 2025 top pick Cooper Flagg — he may struggle to emerge.
Trading for Dort helps the Hawks in the short term by adding another rotation wing to the mix. Atlanta now has a fearsome defensive trio of Dort, Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to rotate on the perimeter. Dort’s expiring $17.7 million deal also may help in the long term because the Hawks are now set up to have roughly $45 million in cap room in 2027, depending on where Atlanta’s first-round pick from New Orleans or Milwaukee lands.
Going down the cap-room road, however, would require Atlanta to relinquish Dort, CJ McCollum and Jock Landale after the season. The Hawks could also extend Dort immediately, as long as he doesn’t get a big raise on his current deal.
The Hawks have 17 players under contract after adding Dort and Nembhard, so they must subtract two by the time the season starts. Nembhard fills a need for a third point guard and seems unlikely to be the odd man out.
Guard Buddy Hield is still on the books for $9 million but does not appear to be in the team’s plans, while guard Devin Carter (acquired in a salary dump from the Sacramento Kings) and forward Mo Gueye (on a non-guaranteed deal but out three to four months after surgery for a broken foot) are other potential casualties. Another trade, of course, is always possible. Atlanta also still has Bird rights on Kuminga that could be used in a sign-and-trade.
Dort is the second Thunder export the Hawks acquired in the last month, as Oklahoma City also sent Aaron Wiggins there in June. Oklahoma City was facing a fearsome nine-digit luxury-tax bill but worked its way below the second-apron threshold by trading those two and Isaiah Joe after the season.
Replacing Risacher with Dort also makes the Hawks smaller, and with Kuminga presumably leaving and Gueye injured, it leaves the backup forward spots unsettled. Rookie first-round pick Zuby Ejiofor would seem to have the edge for the backup four, as Kispert underwhelmed last year and is best suited at the three regardless. Dort may soak up most of the small forward minutes, whether he starts or is the first sub off the bench.
Still, the big story isn’t Dort. Just over two years ago, Atlanta could have had Stephon Castle, Alex Sarr or Donovan Clingan, among others, with the No. 1 pick. Instead, the Hawks basically used Risacher for matching salary.
This deal improves the team, but it’s a bitter pill to swallow.
