Life Comes At You Fast: Just 2 Years After Being Drafted #1 Overall, The Atlanta Hawks Ship Out Zaccharie Risacher In Favor Of Lu Dort
As people often say, life in the NBA happens fast.
For example, you can be a team only 1 year removed from an NBA title, and before you know it, that very same championship roster has already begun to be dismantled around the edges. You can be a team that only 2 years ago somehow got some Lottery luck and landed the #1 pick, only to then be including that guy in a throw in trade before he's even out of his rookie deal. You can be a team that made one of the worst trades in sports history, and in just 2 years suddenly your future looks to be on the upswing. It does not take long in this new CBA world for things to change, and today's 3-team trade between the Thunder/Hawks/Mavs is a perfect example of what life is like in today's NBA
Oklahoma City has now acquired seven second-round picks this offseason, shed $224 million in payroll and tax and positioned themselves comfortably under the second apron via the trades of Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins.
Rather than simply declining Dort's $17.7 million team option to save the money, the Thunder picked it up, acquired three future assets, created a $17M trade exception and place their 2025 championship stalwart in position for a new long-term deal in Atlanta which was not viable in OKC.
Now, does this trade blow your dick off? Not exactly. But that doesn't make it not interesting. In fact, it's one of those unique situations where all 3 teams somehow come away "winners" given their current situations, while also serving as our latest look into how NBA teams (especially the champions/smart ones) are operating under these new CBA guidelines.
Atlanta Hawks
It's probably not great that just 2 years after taking Risacher #1 overall, the Hawks essentially treated him as a throw in as part of this trade. That's not exactly what you're looking for from a #1 pick, but was pretty clear at this point that things were just not going to work out in ATL. Is he the biggest bust we've ever had? I'm not ready to put him over Anthony Bennett, but time will tell. At least they got out ahead of it before it came time to offer him his next extension. It's one thing to accept that you made a bad pick and try to pivot; it's another thing to try to double down on that mistake which only hurts your future even more. So credit the Hawks for getting out in front of that problem.
In fact, you could make the case that the Hawks have had a pretty solid summer. Either Dort plays his way into an extension, or he now becomes a valuable expiring deal which could become useful next summer. In the meantime they add a player to help with their perimeter defense, and while there are certainly questions about the offensive side of the court, at the end of the day the Hawks replaced Kuminga/Risacher/Vincent with Lu Dort/Aaron Wiggins/Flemings etc. Call me crazy, but that feels like a win.
It's not often you see a team be in a better spot following the dumping of a #1 pick after just 2 years, but I think you can make the case the Hawks are better today than they were yesterday.
Dallas Mavericks
If you're the Mavericks here, why not take a flier? For all we know, a new environment could do wonders for Risacher. He gets away from all the pressure in ATL, he gets to play next to Cooper Flagg and Kyrie, he'll probably be asked to do WAY less and fill a certain role which should simplify things for him. It's a low risk, high reward play that makes sense for a team like the Mavs to take. If it doesn't work out and Risacher actually stinks out loud and is out of the league, OK? Who cares. It's not like they gave up a ton to get him. Ryan Nembhard while good, was flippable. Why not take a shot at a heigher ceiling player?
Advertisement
We see examples all the time of players who might stink on one team or in a certain situation go somewhere else and find a role. I don't think anyone is expecting Risacher to become some sort of star, but can he be playable? If so, it's worth what they took to get him.
Oklahoma City Thunder
For the Thunder, welcome to life dealing with the 2nd apron. You see, even a team like OKC, one with a billion picks and a great young core all on rookie deals is still not able to avoid the 2nd apron. Just this summer we've seen them salary dump Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, and now Lu Dort. And you may be saying, "So what? Those are role guys", which is true, but also kind of the point. This is how the CBA cycle works.
1. You win the title
2. The extensions kick in
3. You first shed the pieces around the edges
4. You shed more important pieces as the years go on to avoid touching your core
OKC is on Step #3. They won the 2025 title, Chet/SGA/Williams got their max extensions, and then iHart got his extension this summer. As a result, the next step is trimming the role players. With the pending extensions owed to Cason Wallace and Ajay Mitchell, OKC is going to have this same issue next season once they finally cross over the 2nd apron. We could easily see someone like Alex Caruso be next up to be flipped.
Once they paid iHart, I think most people expected this shoe to drop. You do not go into the 2nd apron for Lu Dort. It stings as he's their longest tenured player and had big moments during their 2025 title run, but these are the types of casualties the 2nd apron forces teams to have. When you know you're about to give big money to Wallace/Mitchell, then you have to balance that out somewhere, and when a player's on court value no longer matches his price tag, this is what happens. Just look around the league with what's happening this summer for the teams dealing with the 2nd apron. The Knicks let Mitchell Robinson walk because they didn't want to go over the 2nd apron. The Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to avoid paying him his next 35% max extension. OKC just traded their longest tenured player. This is what the system is set up to do.
And while I do think the Thunder dumping their depth pieces may impact their regular season to some degree as you need guys to take up minutes over the course of 82, I'm not totally sure it'll matter all that much in terms of their playoff chances. The reason I see them as another "winner" in this trade is because
A) Dort's playoff impact was declining
B) They didn't have to attach assets to clean up their books and instead got back picks
C) It opens up the pathway to pay Wallace/Mitchell
Given their situation/circumstance, that's about as good a result as you could ask for, knowing that your hands are tied behind your back from a cap perspective. Again, no team is immune to the 2nd apron/CBA. Even the teams who are as well positioned as any, like OKC is. They too have to deal with the same realities as every other expensive team. We now just have to see if their backfills can rise to the occasion and be as productive. Remember, SGA's 35% max kicks in after his summer ($60M), and things only get trickier for their books starting in 2027-28 when their 2nd apron clock starts.
And make no mistake, while OKC is dealing with this now, they aren't alone. The Knicks are once again right up against the 2nd apron after this season ($4M of space), and they have a KAT extension pending and a Josh Hart extension/team option for that same season. After giving Donovan Mitchell his own 35% max extension, the Cavs are going to be facing this situation as well. Teams like the Nuggets are potentially losing Peyton Watson because of the 2nd apron, the Magic are right up against it. The list goes on and on.
Adam Silver says this is what he wants. He wants these teams broken up shortly after they win a title. He wants homegrown players who teams spend years developing to ultimately be traded because the rules make it impossible to keep your own talent if they get too good. The worst part? There could be an opt out of the CBA in 2 years, so all the teams dealing with this shit now are going to get screwed, while other teams on the rise could no longer have to worry about these same restrictions. Good job everybody!