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NEW YORK — The Atlanta Hawks took Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Wednesday night, the second straight year a player from France was the first player selected.
The French landed three players in the top six picks, a year after Victor Wembanyama was the first player selected.
Risacher doesn’t come with the enormous height or hype of Wembanyama, the towering center who went to San Antonio last year and went on to win the Rookie of the Year award.
But the Hawks saw him as the best choice in what has been viewed as a draft absent of elite talent.
The 19-year-old forward was the winner of the best young player award in the French League last season and beat out fellow Frenchman Alex Sarr in the race to be the top pick.
When he did, it made NBA draft history. This is the first time that the draft has gone consecutive years without the No. 1 pick being someone who played at an American college.
Sarr went second to the Washington Wizards after playing last year with Perth in Australia’s National Basketball League.
The Hawks had only a 3% chance of winning the lottery to earn the No. 1 pick, and there was no obvious choice waiting once they did. Most mock drafts were split between Risacher and Sarr, and Atlanta also worked out UConn center Donovan Clingan.
Houston made Kentucky freshman Reed Sheppard the No. 3 pick. A one-and-done college player had topped the draft for 13 straight years from 2010-22 before Wembanyama ended that streak.
Now it’s France’s time at the top.
Stephon Castle of the two-time reigning national champion Huskies made it two straight college freshmen when San Antonio took him at No. 4, the Spurs’ first of two picks in the top 10. They also held the No. 8 selection.
The Detroit Pistons took Ron Holland of the G League Ignite with the fifth pick before the Hornets took Tidjane Salaun, who played last year for Cholet Basket in France.
Clingan, who won titles in both seasons in Storrs, finally went to Portland at No. 7.