ESPN's Jonathan Givony Says Potential No. 1 Pick Zaccharie Risacher Will Workout With the Hawks Tomorrow

Who will the Atlanta Hawks Draft With The No. 1 Overall Pick in the 2024 NBA Draft?
Potential No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher
Potential No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher / CBS Sports
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There are eight days until the 2024 NBA Draft.

The Hawks have been on the clock ever since they won the draft lottery, but it became even more real after the Boston Celtics won the NBA title and the offseason officially began. What Atlanta does with the No. 1 pick is going to be one of their biggest decisions of the offseason and it is still seemingly a mystery to most.

On today's episode of NBA Today, ESPN Draft Analyst Jonathan Givony shed some light on what is happening this week in Atlanta:

"What are the Atlanta Hawks going to do at No. 1? They are going to workout Zaccharie Risacher tomorrow, that is the first time that any NBA team will get a look at him live in their building. They worked out Donovan Clingan and they loved what they saw, Quin Snyder put him through a detailed film session, he shot the ball really well, he had a great interview, he showed some ability out of short rolls and so they have a tough decision there. The question is do they slide back possibly to 4 with San Antonio? The Spurs own their pick next year, unprotected, can you get the best of both worlds, slide down to 4 and get Donovan Clingan or Risacher and get your pick back ?"

Risacher and Clingan have been the two most talked about prospects in the last couple of weeks after Sarr was the early favorite to go No. 1 right after the lottery. While Sarr has become the least talked about of the three prospects, Hawks general manager Landry Fields shared his thoughts on Sarr yesterday during his pre-draft media availablity:

"He is a good player, projected to go pretty high from what I have heard. He has a lot of tools that you would want at the NBA level."

While Sarr is talked as being a high-level player on the defensive end of the floor, there are a lot of questions about his offensive game. Fields was asked about that and what he thought about Sarr's potential progression on that end:

"I think with Sarr and the other guys, you are going to see some areas that they have to grow in. So for a guy that we bring in, we are going to think very highly of"

Fields was also asked about the possibility of trading back and getting multiple picks versus staying at No. 1 and here is what he had to say:

"Yeah, so we as a group have looked at a ton of different scenarios, keep the pick, trade back in the draft, and all of the things that you are talking about and where we are right now is that we will pick No. 1, but yeah I don't think it would be wise for us to not go over those scenarios, but there have been a ton that we have gone over and we will continuously go over those as well."

When asked if he was committed to using the No. 1 pick, here was Fields answer:

"Today, we are planning on picking at No. 1"

It seems like everything is on the table for the Hawks and a lot can change in the next week. Fields also talked about how locked in the Hawks board is right now and what it would take for a player to jump another and get to No. 1:

"I would say that a week ago, it was wider than it is now, the board is definetly shaping up and tiering itself out. In order to be No. 1, it has to be a guy that we see as a great fit for us, not just for the next day, but for the future as well."

Fields mentioned that they are going to bring in more prospects for workouts this week as well. It is going to be an interesting week or so for Fields and the rest of the front office as they try and sort out what they want to do with the No. 1 pick.


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Jackson Caudell
JACKSON CAUDELL

Jackson Caudell has been covering Georgia Tech Athletics For On SI since March 2022 and the Atlanta Hawks for On SI since October 2023. Jackson is also the co-host of the Bleav in Georgia Tech podcast and he loves to bring thoughtful analysis and comprehensive coverage to everything that he does. Find him on X @jacksoncaudell