For the second year in a row, the top pick is a French player.
While there was little doubt Victor Wembanyama would be selected first place last year, over the past month, Risacher and fellow Frenchman Alexandre Sarr have regularly switched spots at the top of mock drafts this year.
At the May draft combine, 19-year-old Risacher, who most recently played for JL Bourg-en-Bresse in the French top division, measured 6 feet 9 inches and 195 pounds.
He said, “[It’s] so exciting,” to news. “A lot of emotions and feelings are present at the moment. I’m so fortunate that I don’t know what to say.”
After playing center for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League of Australia in 2023–2024, Sarr, 19, was chosen by the Washington Wizards with the second overall pick.
Despite the fact that Olivier Sarr, a 25-year-old center for the Oklahoma City Thunder, is the brother of Sarr, it was the third time in NBA draft history that the top two picks had never attended college.
According to Alexandre Sarr, “He’s shared a lot with me,” news reported. “Everything I’ve learned is through him and he gave me all his knowledge, and to this day it’s really special to have someone like him in my corner.”
The third pick, Reed Sheppard of Kentucky, went to the Houston Rockets, and the fourth pick, Stephon Castle of UConn, went to the San Antonio Spurs.
