Alex Sarr was born in France and spent last season playing in Australia. Zaccharie Risacher was born in Spain and is coming off a breakout season in France.
The next step in their global basketball journey is the NBA, with one of them potentially heading to Atlanta on Wednesday night as the No. 1 pick in the draft.
“We grew up together, competing against each other, and now we are here in New York for the draft and it’s one day to realize our dream, you know?” Risacher said Tuesday. “So this is special.”
It’s a special time for France, which could have the No. 1 pick for a second straight season after Victor Wembanyama went to San Antonio last year amid enormous expectations and lived up to the hype in a Rookie of the Year season.
Neither Sarr, Risacher (pronounced Ree-zah-shay) nor anyone else will arrive with that type of promise, part of the reason the 2024 draft has long been viewed as a weak one. It’s unclear which way the Hawks will lean, or even if they are focusing on the two French players.
“For us, I feel like this is a great class, to be honest,” said Isaiah Collier, a guard from USC, where he was a teammate of LeBron James’ son, Bronny James.
“Everybody says it’s weak and everything like that, but for us I think it’s wide open because there’s a lot of good players and nobody really knows who’s at the top.”
They will find out at the start of what this year becomes a two-night draft. The first round will be held as usual at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the second round moves Thursday to ESPN’s Seaport District studios.
Much of the speculation surrounding the Hawks’ choice since they won the draft lottery last month initially focused on Sarr, a well-traveled 7-footer from Bordeaux, France, who began his pro career in Spain with Real Madrid’s youth team. He spent two years in the U.S. playing with Overtime Elite, a developmental league, and last season was with the Perth Wildcats in Australia’s National Basketball League.
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