Could Speedy Zaccharie Risacher Emerge As Mavs Starter?

MACAO - Zaccharie Risacher was in an open-court situation maybe five times during a recent practice during the  Dallas Mavericks training camp.

And by the measure of of new Mavericks coach Dusty May.

Risacher is one of the faster players in the NBA.

"Zach, I'll just speak on today," May said. "His poise with the ball in his hands is improving. He's learning to change speeds better. I mean, he's going really fast, so he goes really, really fast. And now he's kind of stopping and letting the dust settle, and he's making really good decisions with the ball in his hands. I think today he was in an open-court situation maybe five times. I thought he made an excellent decision [four of] the five."

"He's making open shots, he's playing with aggression, he looks extremely confident," May continued. "But the things that we've seen him do every single day is offensive rebound at a high level, run the lane, especially transition offense at a high level. And then just he's connected better now, he's driving and kicking better. He's making incremental progress every single day."

Dallas opened camp three days before the league-wide start because of its trip to Macao for the NBA China Games. The Mavericks have 20 players in camp. Recently, May said he has not settled on a starting five and is studying two- and three-man combinations instead.

But what a "get'' this would be if somehow the speedy Risacher became a starter.

The Atlanta Hawks took Risacher first overall in the 2024 NBA Draft. Atlanta traded him to Dallas on July 19 in a three-team deal that sent Lu Dort from the Oklahoma City Thunder to Atlanta. Ryan Nembhard went from Dallas to the Hawks, and the Thunder received three second-round picks.

Risacher turned 21 on April 8. As a rookie in 2024-25, he averaged 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 75 games, 73 of them starts. He made the All-Rookie First Team and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting.

On March 30, 2025, he scored 36 points in a 145-124 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Eleven days later, he scored a career-high 38 against the Brooklyn Nets, shooting 15-of-20 from the field and 6-of-11 from 3-point range in a 133-109 win. No rookie scored more in a game that season.

Last season, Risacher averaged 9.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 67 games. He started 46 of them.

Risacher kept the same habits after the season ended, and the trade came after that.

"I was told not to worry about it and just focus on the things you can control," Risacher said. "I couldn't do much about it besides play and put in the work and be able to be ready for the next game and the next practice, so I tried not to think about it."

"Once the season was over, I was in the same habits," Risacher added. "I kept working, kept focusing on the things I could control about it, and [the trade] happened and I'm glad it did. But if it wasn't the case, I would still be in that position to be good because I put in the work after I cleared my mind."

Dallas has until Oct. 31 to exercise Risacher's $17.4 million team option for 2027-28.

May has no issue with Risacher turning any of the outside noise into fuel.

"We just want him to play good ball and embrace who he is as a player, his strengths," May explained. "Hopefully he feels a part of this group, that he feels embraced by the team and the staff. And as far as all the other stuff, I think that's just, those are distractions, unless you use it as fuel just to work harder, or maybe when you're at that breaking point, it pushes you over the edge."

"This league, what I've learned is they don't give up on guys at 20 or 21 or whatever the case and say you're not an NBA player," May noted. "And so it's just those guys that can stay the course, that can fight every battle and just stay with it, it usually lends itself to working out well for them at the end of the day. But, yeah, we just want Zach to play really good basketball and get a little bit better every day."

Dallas hired May on June 23, about seven weeks after naming Masai Ujiri president of basketball operations. May won the 2026 national championship at Michigan before taking his first NBA job.

Risacher said the coaching staff has been easy to talk to through the first week of camp.

"It's great," Risacher explained. "Like I said yesterday during media day, it's a blessing for me to be here. I'm super excited. Just fresh start in a new city, in a new organization, and I feel already super comfortable here. And, yeah, I'm happy to be here, honestly."

Cooper Flagg went first overall in 2025 and won Rookie of the Year last season. Kyrie Irving went first in 2011, which gives Dallas three No. 1 overall picks on the roster. Risacher is the second French player taken first overall, after Victor Wembanyama in 2023.

Dallas finished fourth in pace and 29th in 3-pointers per game last season. Risacher likes playing off the ball, and he expects the two wings to switch across almost every position.

"I feel like that's going to be one of our focus," Risacher said. "We can tell from now that we want to guard and we want to play fast. That's one of my strengths, too. I feel like that's going to be a good fit. We talked about it with Coach Dusty. I know he wants me to push in transition and be effective on that part of the game too. I've got a special focus on this when it comes to practice. Get reps in and just be able to play fast."

Being drafted first overall was a dream Risacher had held since he was 3 or 4 years old.

"I feel like definitely was a lot of pressure," Risacher said. "But at the same time, everything happened so fast that I just put the work in. As an NBA player, there's so much games you got to get ready. You don't have time to think about that. So I feel like it was good for me to be able to be in Atlanta and also we were trying to win, we're trying to get to the playoffs and everything, so I didn't have that much time to overthink."

Dallas faces the Houston Rockets at The Venetian Arena here in Macao on Oct. 9, with tip-off at 7 a.m. CT, and again on Oct. 11. The Mavericks host the New Orleans Pelicans on Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. CT. The regular season opens Oct. 21 in Houston.

The Hawks visit American Airlines Center on Oct. 16, with tip-off at 7 p.m. CT.