The only question is will he still be there at 8?

I’m goin miss my French 🇫🇷 Baguette 🥖Zac!

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Grade for Atlanta: A-

What this means for Hawks: Atlanta continues a strong offseason with another shrewd trade. It wouldn't seem that way based on the draft pedigrees of the three players involved in this trade, as Risacher was a No. 1 pick and both Dort and Nembhard were undrafted. Ignore the draft record, though, and Dort is clearly a more valuable player, both in the present and future, than Risacher. The 27-year-old wing is still in his prime age range and only a year removed from being named to the All-Defensive first team, where he joined Dyson Daniels, now his new teammate in Atlanta. Whether Dort and Daniels can function together offensively remains to be seen, but between Dort, Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta now boasts one of the best defensive trios in the NBA.

The Hawks finished 10th in defensive rating last season and could easily push into the top five in 2026-27. Dort also gives the Hawks another useful rotation player, period, which is a necessity for Atlanta to improve next season. As I wrote when analyzing Atlanta's trade for another Thunder player, Wiggins, the Hawks ended last postseason with what was effectively a six-man rotation, and one of those six players (Jonathan Kuminga) won't be back. Dort and Wiggins on the wings, plus Nembhard and No. 8 pick Kingston Flemings in the backcourt, should help address that weakness. As for the price to acquire Dort, it's possible that giving up on Risacher this early will prove foolish in the long run. He's a 6-foot-8 wing who's still just 21 years old, which makes him among the most valuable player archetypes in the NBA. But Risacher is fairly expensive ($13.8 million in 2026-27, with a $17.4 million team option for 2027-28), and he hasn't looked the part of a future star, or even a future starter for a contender, in his NBA career to date. His statistics were essentially the same or slightly worse across the board in his second season compared to his first, showing little development, and he'd lost the trust of Atlanta coach Quin Snyder.

Risacher played just 23 total minutes in the playoffs, and the majority of those came in the second half of the 51-point blowout loss that ended Atlanta's season. Out of 41 No. 1 picks in the lottery era, Risacher ranked 39th in box plus/minus through each player's first two seasons, per Stathead, ahead of only infamous draft busts Anthony Bennett and Michael Olowokandi. Typically, a future contributor has demonstrated more evidence of his ability on the court by this point in his career. Andrew Wiggins -- whose BPM was still much better than Risacher's -- is the only success story among the players at the bottom of this list. If this were a retrospective draft grade, the Hawks would receive failing marks for selecting Risacher at No. 1 instead of Alex Sarr (who went second) or Stephon Castle (who went fourth). But Atlanta viewed that mistake as a sunk cost and turned Risacher into a better player in this trade.

yes we all know espn sucks, just wanted y’all’s opinion on the list.

The league has only been involved in one part with magic city night…the approval of the hoodie. That’s it.

The East is loaded this year. We had a great run last year. But with our current roster, are we better than any of these teams?

• 76ers
• Knicks
• Celtics
• Cavs
• Heat
• Pistons
• Raptors (assuming Kawhi trade goes through)

That’s already seven teams.

Then you’ve still got Orlando. How will Indiana look with Haliburton returning? On paper, can you definitively say that the Hawks are a better team than the Wizards right now?

Is it reasonable to believe that the Hawks take a step back in the standings this year?

-40???????

What do you do to get a -40???? In just one half????? How???????

Ok, let me preface this by saying I’ve been a Hawks fan longer than most posters have been alive.

I watched the Hawks lose to the Pistons 4-1 as the second seed in the ‘87 playoffs.

I watched the ‘Nique/Bird duel in ‘88.

I got my hopes up then dashed when the Hawks acquired Moses Malone and Reggie Theus in ‘89 only for the team to collapse after the all star break.

I was one of many pounding my head on the wall when Dominique was traded in Feb 1994.

I lived through the thoroughly mediocre Mutumbo years.

I questioned why the Hawks would sign and trade for Joe Johnson, giving up 2 first rounders AND Boris Diaw when they could have just signed him outright.

Marvin Williams over Chris Paul.

Atlanta Spirit.

Undefeated January 2015.

Yes, that MAGICAL Eastern Conference run everyone keeps bringing up.

I’ve seen the Hawks few highlights and lots of lowlights. But trading Trae Young isn’t the worst thing that’s happened with the Hawks. Given how the NBA has evolved, Trae Young was not going to be the best player on a championship team.

One, Trae was no longer getting to the line the way he was during that ECF run. His floater disappeared and he was never a true shooter al la Steph or Dame, but that didn’t stop him from chucking it up from 35 feet out with 18 seconds on the shot clock.

Two, Trae was a TERRIBLE off ball offensive player.

Three, the defense. This has been covered, I’m not rehashing it.

Did the Hawks sell low? Yep. Could they have waited to trade him until the summer? Sure, but at what cost to the team and this season?

CJ was not brought in to start. What CJ does is he gives the Hawks a legit second string option to run the point and someone to finish when need be. Moving Trae now gives the team the chance to rework lineups and potentially make a move in the standings to get out of the Annual Atlanta Hawks Invitational, aka the Play-In.

If you’re a Trae fan, enjoy rooting for him as a member of the Wizards. But if you’re a Hawks fan, this puts the Hawks in a better position going forward. We’ve had 4 years worth of evidence to accept that having Trae Young as your best player was not winning you a championship.

I really REALLY hope we trade Trae. The biggest star to wear a hawks jersey since Nique and yall wanna offload him like a bum. He got us within two games of the finals. He’s never had a true costar until now with Jalen. He’s been dragging mediocre teams to the playin year after year and doesn’t complain. The worst part of all of this is that he WANTS TO BE HERE. Name another star that actively WANTS to be in Atlanta? He’s gonna get traded and when he does I don’t want to see another complaint out of yall. Go be fans of another team leave Atlanta sports alone.

I’m watching Wemby and the spurs go to the western conference finals, and I’m just thinking, damn if Risacher had the talent as any of the 5 picks ahead of him or the 2 behind him, he would be a major piece that could have helped us at least make the Knicks series more interesting. In my head I named the last 5 and the 2 picks after him, Zion Williamson(All Star level player when healthy), Anthony Edwards(Superstar), Cade Cunningham(Upcoming Superstar and top 5 MVP finish this season), Paolo Banchero(All Star level player), and Wemby(Generational Superstar, and top 3 player in the league right now). Then I thought about Cooper Flagg, who looks like a future all star and AJ Dybantsa, and the talent is just off the charts, I don’t see any possibility of him not being an all star, he’s 6’9 moving like prime TMac😂. I know Quin doesn’t really play younger players like that, but if we had any of those 7 players, I guarantee they are playing with the talent they have, at best Risacher is a quality role player. I’m so tired of my hawks having the worst luck with everything. Of course we get the #1 draft pick in arguably the weakest draft of the last decade.Being a hawks fan is mentally draining, but hey it is what it is I guess. I just thought I’d rant on here😂

ppl in here freaking out and I get it, I loved Zacch too. But this isn’t just some “cost-cutting” move. There is clear upside to this trade, especially for a young team building this gritty identity.

I know it sucks to not make huge splashes but the Hawks can not give up all the assets they just got for a “win now” player.

EVERY key player on the Hawks is on a bargain contract. The rest are on 1 years or escape routes. The Hawks probably have a top 10 pick again next year.

They will have plenty of flexibility to see exactly how good this roster is and get whoever they want next year. They will have the assets and even more expiring contracts.

Can they win the East? Yes. However, Philly/Boston/NYK are at the peak of their team building status. In 2 years, Atlanta is shaped up to have one of, if not the, best future in the East as it stands right now.

After the DJM trade - which still owes SA a pick!! I doubt they take a risk like that. JB is great but he’s not the single guy who’s taking Atlanta to a championship

Traded for literally nothing , DROVE from Memphis to Atlanta , took a few hours nap , got in one shoot around , STARTED , dropped 26,11,5 4 blocks & the go ahead shot .. ?!