The Atlanta Hawks season took a bad downturn when they lost Jalen Johnson for the season, but ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline, the focus of the season has changed. The team is expected to be sellers now, but also there is an opportunity to rapidly advance the development of rookie Zaccharie Risacher.
The NBA's Rookie of the Year race is wide-open right now, and while Risacher has hypothetically fallen away from being a top contender previously, the opportunity for him to become a bigger part of the Hawks offense could vault him back in to the discussion of being a favorite. He scored 30 points in a loss to Cleveland on Thursday and will look to build on that Saturday against the Pacers.
"We hinted at the idea of Zaccharie Risacher now having the opportunity to get more aggressive, he looked more aggressive last night than I've ever seen him look," says Andy Bunker. "The Rookie of the Year race is wide open, the leader in the clubhouse is Kel'el Ware, if you're going to salvage something, if your #1 pick can develop a little bit more, win the award, that would feel really good. That could even make the season a success."
