ATLANTA — Onsi Saleh praised Zaccharie Risacher on Friday, two months after the Atlanta Hawks sent the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft to the Dallas Mavericks in a three-team trade that brought Luguentz Dort to Atlanta.
Saleh, Atlanta’s president of basketball operations, met with reporters ahead of the Hawks’ training camp, which opens next week in Nashville.
Dallas acquired Risacher on July 19 in the deal with Atlanta and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Hawks received Dort from Oklahoma City and Ryan Nembhard from Dallas, and the Thunder received three second-round picks. Risacher’s $13,826,040 salary for this season went into the $20.8 million trade exception the Mavericks created when they traded Anthony Davis in February 2025.
Dort won a championship with Oklahoma City in 2025, the same season he made the All-Defensive First Team and finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He averaged 8.3 points on 38.5% shooting last season, and the Thunder exercised his $17.7 million team option for 2026-27 on June 29, three weeks before the trade.
In his opening statement, Saleh said Atlanta wanted the pedigree Dort and Aaron Wiggins brought from Oklahoma City in its locker room. The Hawks acquired Wiggins from the Thunder on July 6 for two second-round picks.
“Zacch did everything right for us. He was really good for us, and we wish him the best. He’s an unbelievable human being,” Saleh said. “I think it’s just when you have an opportunity to trade for a guy that was first-team All-Defense, NBA champion, started for an NBA championship team, and we saw like the physicality in the playoffs and we needed to up that a little bit, and we’re talking about a guy that has guarded some of the best players in the NBA.”
“He’s arguably one of, if not the best, isolation defender in the league,” Saleh continued. “And you have to give up value to get value in this league, too. And I’m really excited for Lou and what he’s going to bring to the team.”
Onsi Saleh On Luguentz Dort And Playoff Physicality
New York eliminated Atlanta in six games in the first round last spring after the Hawks went 46-36. Risacher made his playoff debut in Game 1 of that series on April 18 and had 4 rebounds in a 113-102 loss.
Saleh put “a ton” of value on championship experience. He compared the Dort and Wiggins additions to Atlanta adding Nickeil Alexander-Walker a year earlier, after Alexander-Walker reached two Western Conference finals with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“Guys like Lou, like the physicality, we saw it in the playoffs. It wasn’t just the Knicks series, but if you guys watch all the playoffs from first round to the Finals, it’s a very physical, different environment,” Saleh said. “And we felt like Lou and his ability to guard and be physical and bring that tenacity on the court every single moment he’s out there, it’s going to help our guys. Not only going to help our guys get better, but it’s going to help our team win more games.”
In June, Atlanta drafted Kingston Flemings eighth overall and Zuby Ejiofor 23rd. Jock Landale re-signed with the Hawks on July 10 after missing the end of last season.
Later in the session, Saleh said the game shifts in the postseason to a slower, more physical style where officials call less, to the point that teams almost need two rosters.
“The physicality component was big for us to figure out this summer. And like, that was a big part of drafting the guys we drafted, especially like with Kingston and Zuby. They were the two most physical guys we had in the draft by our metrics,” Saleh explained. “So it’s going to be a big addition. We need it. I mean, you guys saw how the playoffs have been, so we need to add that. We need to add guys like Lou to help. Bringing back Jock’s going to help with that as well.”
Saleh said the Hawks’ background work on Dort and Wiggins, the “ears” in what he calls an eyes, ears, and numbers approach, checked every box. He joked that he told Wiggins, a close friend of Dort from their years in Oklahoma City, that Atlanta needed to trade for a friend of his so Wiggins would not feel as lonely.
“Having guys like Lou in training camp is going to be, instead of seeing the physicality in the playoffs or as the season progresses, we’re going to see that from day one in training camp,” Saleh said. “I think that’s going to be a great test for our guys because he is a beast on the court.”
Ryan Nembhard, Zaccharie Risacher And The Dallas Mavericks’ Option
Nembhard lasted two months in Atlanta before the Hawks traded him, Buddy Hield, and cash to the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday for Dorian Finney-Smith. Atlanta also waived Devin Carter earlier in September.
Saleh listed CJ McCollum, Alexander-Walker, Flemings, and Wiggins among Atlanta’s ball handlers and said the Hawks feel deep at guard.
“We made a trade basically to cut that roster down,” Saleh said. “We felt like we did a good job consolidating the roster at the end of the summer, and we have roles for guys and expectations for guys, every player on our team, honestly. So nobody’s just sitting back there not doing anything.”
Risacher made the All-Rookie First Team in 2024-25 after averaging 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 75 games with 73 starts. Last season, he averaged 9.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 67 games with 46 starts.
Dallas pursued him before the deal came together. Zach Lowe of The Ringer said on his podcast in July that the Mavericks were asking about Risacher when Atlanta appeared open to moving him, and that a third team was needed because Dallas lacked what the Hawks wanted. Dirk Nowitzki said earlier this month that Risacher’s potential is still there.
The Mavericks have until Oct. 31 to exercise Risacher’s fourth-year team option, worth roughly $17.4 million for 2027-28. Dallas opens training camp next week and plays the Houston Rockets on Oct. 9 and Oct. 11 at The Venetian Arena in Macau, China, in the NBA Global Games.
