Sarr basically told them to not draft him. Sheppard probably wouldn’t be the best fit alongside Trae and Jalen Johnson (even if the former might not be there long)

Probably should’ve drafted Castle though.

There’s something there. He just doesn’t have the room to make mistakes. Giving up on him in his second season is stupid. Even if sarr and castle are better.

Harrison Barnes was a super common player comp for Risacher prior to the draft. I can totally see Risacher having a similar career to him at this point.

They gonna sell low on him and regret it

Wiggins was super hyped.

Basically a role player his entire career. Was a big piece on a championship team.

No reason Risacher can”t be similar.

It’s not like they drafted a Fultz. They more of drafted an Ayton.

And the Suns could have used Ayton these past couple years imo.

Normalize the idea that most draft picks are going to look bad in hindsight. That’s the way the draft works. It’s especially true when you are the number one pick. Congratulations, you now have to beat out about 55 other draft picks to justify the selection. Most people aren’t LeBron or Shaq.

I’m not saying Atlanta didn’t fumble it, but you see this “coulda woulda shoulda” discourse all the time, and it’s always colored by hindsight bias. Wolves could’ve had Curry. Kings could’ve had Luka. Warriors could’ve had Hali and Sengun. Everyone could’ve had Jokic. It’s normal to a point.

I disagree. I watched him last season and he looked like a big brain pick for sure. Since his injury he hasnt looked the same. Just hate this recency bias and trend to just throw a players potential away simply because hes struggling. Hes only 20 but he sucks, but same guys saying this were raving about him in the second half of last season. Pick a fucking lane at least.

His biggest problem isnt talent, its that ATL are incapable of developing him further.

Would Sarr, Sheppard or Castle have gotten the gametime that they have elsewhere and that Risacher has with the Hawks, if they were on Atlanta’s roster this year and last year? At the very least it would have prompted a number of different roster moves around them.

Such a dumb take. As a rookie he showed prolonged flashes over the last 35 games after coming back from injury. Flashes that exceed anything reed shepard has done this year.

Choosing to believe in this seasons regression and not in the potential he showed 6 months ago makes very little sense, especially when factoring in the organizational issues that the hawks have.

the 2024 draft was weird. Extremely underwhelming as prospect wise it was heavily lacking star power. Sarr was my guy who has the highest upside and Risacher I think was the safest pick. Considering the prospects were all pretty weird to teams pre draft (Castle refusing to work out for many teams, Sarr telling multiple to not draft him, and other odd things from other players) Risacher is still a positive player and was the right pick.

Hawks giving up on this dude after 1.5 seasons while limiting him to bum roles is such a hawks move

well rumored that they wanted clingan which wouldve been nice but tbh u open urself up to much more scrutiny when u go off the board and many gms dont have the job security to take that risk

Can we get him on Jordi Fernandez’s island of misfit toys

See, this is why I’m not to bothered by the pick the Pelicans gave up for Queen. Even if another team hands you a top pick, you still have to actually draft.

I feel like it was universally seen as the wrong decision at the time but “safest” option for the Hawks considering Sarr and Castle refused to workout with them. Though it was dumb to not just draft one of them anyway considering it was seen as such a “low-ceiling” draft anyway so even if they tried to avoid getting drafted, it wasn’t like you were losing out on anything super valuable.

Most thought he was gonna be a decent 3&D wing. Nothing really more than that.

Me: relaxing

Hawks: spiraling in real time

I am not sure Castle would be the same if he had joined the Hawks.

Even discounting the coaching/culture/development, playing time and pressure would be different. Castle was free to make mistakes and grow on a team with zero expectations.

I used to be in the “give young players a chance” camp, but looking at how bad Warriors have fumbled trying to develop draft picks that clearly turned out to be mid-tier players (or below), I’d say ship him.

I think this is a balanced take.

He’s clearly a talented player that when given time, can be a strong starter on a good team. But the other three have taken a leap this year.

Sheppard would’ve been one of the biggest busts of all time if the Hawks picked him lol

I’d guess that a majority of front offices in the league would still rather have Risacher over Sheppard right now.

The fuck has reed Sheppard done

Am I crazy for preferring a 6’9 forward that projects to be at worst a jack of all trades master of none?

I’m not impressed by Sheppard at all, Sarr is good because he is in arguably the worst team in the league and Castle, sure but I also prefer Trae + Dyson than another guard.

Everyone who watched this kid every week in Eurocup and French league knew he’ll most probably be a bust, i never understood how in the hell he went at number 1. Buzelis said it best, let them play 1v1 and he will trash him and i really believe he would have done just that. Hawks fell for the “lanky frenchman” trap after seeing the hype about Victor but if they really wanted a European they should have just kept Luka after Suns and Kings fucked it up lol

Imagine this Hawks team with Castle at the point.

Of course it’s still too early

I wonder where they would be now if they’d taken Castle and moved on from Trae but the FO clearly weren’t ready to do that yet. I think it’s clear now though

Wasn’t there a report that they had Sheppard #1 on the board, but they had Trae already.

Seeing Sarr in person here in the NBL and seeing how disengaged he was and distant from his teammates I really thought he was going to be the one from this draft class to fizzle out.

The lesson here is to not gaf if a clearly more talented player refuses to work out with you. Sarr and Castle’s tape was always better than Risacher. Both always projected as having elite defensive potential, which is more than what was ever said about Rishacher.

The issue with a lot of this players that need time and development is are you spending your time and resources on a guy that won’t be valuable till their next contract? That has happened every time with all the Lakers picks. They trade all their players before they develop and then the players become better afterwards. Example is Randle and Ingram. Do you pick a project when you’re probably giving them to another team because they don’t develop on your timeline? A lot of these guys take time. Imagine Bucks got rid of Giannis before she showed he was good. Because his first year he was the worst player in 2k.

I can’t really blame ATL since that draft was kind of a crapshoot.

None of those guys were the clear cut, no doubt number 1 pick type guys like Flag, Wemby & Cade the previous years.

Atl just got about unlucky with the pick and year.

Send him to Sioux Falls.

Castle is way better and was a clearer choice imo if you were looking for defense. But I get they were looking for a wing so hopefully he improves

Wow. Basic observations. Zach Lowe gets paid to state the obvious.

Put him on a different roster and he might develop faster imho

Damn is it pile on Atlanta week, since when did all these people care about the hawks lmao

EVERYONE wants an instant return on their investments these days.

People talking now as if not everyone was surprised with the Castle pick on draft night

Is it that he was the wrong pick or that Atlanta is the wrong organization?

They could have had Kelal Ware!!!

Is he a good defender ?

The Hawks, in typical Hawks fashion, will trade him for pennies, and then within five years, he’ll develop into an All-Star. I’m tired boss :(

Ummm Sarr has been fantastic? Key franchise defensive beast for the next decade and still has enough game to score.

Castle has been incredible and a true winner. Reed is a bucket getter, can shoot the lights out.

Wtf is homie on about?

they treated him like a role player. every other #1 pick can just come in and shoot as much as they want so they can develop especially when stars are injured like KP and trae were. instead the hawks brought a first year hawk in nickeil and let him damn near shoot it 16 times a game and everyone else too while bro was relegated to playin defense and takin only open shots lmfao. like how the fuck u put ur #1 pick in a cage and limit him and let NAW run wild lmfaoo. hawks is just a trash franchise.

I don’t like Castle. Especially not on the Hawks. He needs to cut down the turnovers and get a 3 point shot. Ware, Edey, Clingan and Buzelis should be in this conversation though.

u/meatwagon25

I beg my hawks to not give up on Zach yet, please. He’s so young and does a lot of little things for our team. How about letting him actually develop before trading him away

sigh this again…

Yes everyone in Dec 2025 knew EXACTLY how the 2024 draft was gonna play out.

If ATL had taken Clingan at 1 there would have been riots in midtown