Tier 1 -
Ceiling:
All-Star, Fringe All Defense Team/Top 10 Three Point Shooter
Nationality
French
Draft Day Age
19.20
Wingspan
6'11
Avg ranking (top 6 NBA draft sites)
4.5
My Jan Ranking
2
Best Case - Shades of/
Jalen Johnson
Mikel Bridges
Peja Stojakovic
Sam Vecenie Draft Guide
"At 16, he became the youngest French player to start a EuroLeague
game. He became a likely 2024 draft pick at that summer’s U17 World Cup, averaging 10.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists to help lead France to a bronze medal.
. Still, he was a valuable starter for a EuroCup team this year and ended up winning the EuroCup
Rising Star award
he is a fluid athlete who is very coordinated for his size. Has an 8-11 standing reach. He has great feel for the game, which allowed him to make an early impact as a
teenager in high-level European competitions.
A big portion of Risacher’s value comes from the threat of the jumper. Risacher has knocked down shots this season at an effective clip, hitting 38.7 from 3. He’s
converted 40.7 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s and 34.8 percent of his 3s off the dribble, many of which were relocation shots.
Risacher moves well without the ball and plays within the flow of his team’s offensive system. He is good in triple-threat situations when he catches after moving offball. He recognizes his defender’s closeout rhythm early and adjusts his feet ahead of time depending on whether he’s shooting or driving. He cuts well off the ball
and gets himself into optimal attacking positions.
There’s rarely any
hesitation with his decision-making. If he has a straight line or an opportunity to get his man off-balance, he will immediately attack. While he doesn’t create many
pull-ups, he showed the potential to generate stepback jumpers, especially going to his left.
Risacher also thrived in different defensive roles. Bourg largely used him against wings, and he did a good job containing drives and forcing contested jumpers or
kickouts. But it also occasionally used Risacher at the point of attack against smaller, quicker guards, and while he got beat a decent amount, he usually recovered by
using his length to make an impact. He gets around screens, understanding how to get skinny to sneak over the top while using his length well to contest from
behind. He may not be an All-Defense-level player in the future, but he has a chance to be a plus defender overall if he keeps adding strength.
Risacher is not explosive. He doesn’t play with much force and lacks much vertical pop in traffic. He’s
grown better at absorbing contact around the rim but is rarely the player initiating said contact at this point in his career. He’s still growing into his frame and body,
but it’s unclear if he will ever be a particularly physical or quick player
His roughly 1-to-1.5 assist-to-turnover
ratio is worrisome for a wing.
Risacher is not a great finisher at the rim. Players his size should be able to rise and finish, but he doesn’t consistently right now. If he can’t load up off two feet, he
tends to finish below the rim. When opponents bump him around the basket, he loses some of the touch that makes him special. Risacher might fare better in the
more open NBA game compared to the European style that tends to be more physical around the basket, but he made just 54.8 percent at the rim in half-court
settings, per Synergy, and only got there about once per game.
. Risacher was
streaky this year, starting out very hot before making just 22.8 percent of his 3s from Jan. 31 to the end of April. Then, he closed the season incredibly well in the
playoffs. If he’s not a knockdown shooter, his offensive role becomes more difficult to project. However, he’s shown enough touch with the way the ball comes out of
his hand to continue developing his consistency there in spot-up situations, if not off movement or in pull-up situations. If, at a minimum, he can hit open-up spot 3s,
cut off the ball and defend, then he’d become a difference-making starter if any of his on-ball skill improves as he grows into his frame. Teams that believe he can add
functional strength and a bit more athletic juice have reason to take him in the top five. Those who are less sure of his long-term shooting development may think the
floor is too low to risk such a high pick. Still, Risacher is seen as one of the safest players in the draft because of his intersection of size, defense and shooting. Look
across the playoffs, and you can see why these players are so valuable."