Just How Good is Zaccharie Risacher?
By Deeper Lens
With the NBA Draft getting closer to execution, its time to look at the input some prospects have been putting into their portfolio. Zachary Risacher’s resume has risen among many draft boards this season, with some claiming he ranks as the #1 Pick. Lets look into how real those claims are, and what we could expect from him at the next level.
When it comes to his offensive package, the results are…murky at best. Despite his overall scoring profile looking like a decent play finisher. Risacher averages 11 points per game on 60%TS and a eFG of 57%.However, when looking at the film you begin to see glaring issues.
The first concern stems of his play finishing, specifically in off the catch situations.
In this clip you can see the limitations. limited dribble pocket, lacks initial burst, and struggles maintaining balance through contact. His touch is good, but isn’t refined enough to will these looks to go.
His lack of strength makes it hard for him to seal off space. combine this with mediocre deceleration abilities at best, and it makes shooting counters unlikely.
His pocket size makes it harder in passing situations as well. see here when facing pressure off a breakdown, he loses control and throws a flimsy pass
However, he has shown good athletic flashes when given lanes in open space.
If he can continue to develop his ability absorb contact, he could become a highly viable paint threat.
He’s been able to counter these limitations with great off ball feel around the rim. He’s consistently looking for release valves. JL Bourg love using their bigs at the elbow, either to initiate or create openings for their wings. Risacher maximizes this perfectly.
Even on this miss, he’s always aware of his teammates passing angles. See how he’s constantly reading his mans positioning to time the cut perfectly. He also adjusts to the pass to maximize the play.
However, his most versatile skill is his 3pt shooting. This season he’s shooting 44% on 3.4 attempts, showing diversity into multiple jumpers. backpedaling into threes, tough catch and shoot 3s, and moving off of pin downs:
His ability to hit these types of jumpers is what makes his profile so intriguing. the athletic ability is decent, the movement off ball is present, and he’s a viable shooter in multiple situations. It comes down to how much you can see his play finishing and self creation grow.
His defense is what truly sets him apart from other prospects in his class. His ability to overreact and still recover to contest is incredible.
On this play, he swivels his hips to and closes off their initial lane. Once he feels them beating him, he uses an armbar to stay connected and focuses on taking away space to load up on his drive.
This ability to close distance early and having incredible saves makes him a deadly piece to have.
His main limitation however, is screening. He lacks the consistent feel slipping around screens, along with the IQ to adjust his path when the placement of the screen changes.
Even when in set man situations, he struggles with changes of pace, and PGs that are comfortable engaging with contact first. on this play he tries to make up for this imbalance with extending his back hand, but his man just uses it to draw a foul.
Overall, he still comes out as a solid defensive prospect, with good IQ off ball and solid technique in man, but is still clearly rough around the edges when it comes to decision making.
That’s the overall concern for Risacher right now. He just doesn’t scream high quality on either end right now. With his player type having a limited ceiling as well, it just makes it hard to envision him as a franchise cornerstone. Granted, there’s still some time until July to omit those flashes, but as of right now I see him as role player prospect with the potential to become a sub all star, but lacks the ceiling to be a real #1 pick. His year 1 impact will depend on the level of team he falls to, specifically whether they have quality point creators.