Before Tuesday, Jalen Johnson was the Atlanta Hawks’ lone representative for All-Star Weekend. But following an abdominal injury to Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell, the Hawks will have one more representative as Zaccharie Risacher was selected as the replacement for the Rising Stars event, as per Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints.
While Zaccharie Risacher will represent the Hawks in the Rising Stars competition, Jalen Johnson will partake in two events over All-Star Weekend. He will make his first All-Star debut as part of the main event on Sunday afternoon, as well as participate in the return of the Shooting Stars competition.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Risacher finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting last season behind only Stephon Castle. This year, however, Risacher has not quite taken the expected leap in year two that one might expect from a No. 1 pick.
Risacher has dealt with some nagging injury issues this season so that could possibly play a role in his production. He’s appeared in 41 of the Hawks’ 55 games so far, at a little over 24 minutes per game. He recently missed 11 consecutive games last month before making his return to the lineup on Jan. 31.
Risacher has played in five games since his return, with his best output coming on Feb. 7 during a loss to the Charlotte Hornets. He finished with 18 points, three rebounds and three blocked shots in a little over 26 minutes.
He’s been averaging 10.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists with splits of 45.1 percent shooting from the field, 35.2 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 62.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Risacher also saw his name in trade rumors surrounding the Hawks’ reported interest in Anthony Davis.
