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Mavs trade for former No.
1 overall pick to help Cooper Flagg in 3-team deal originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Zaccharie Risacher had the unfortunate honor of being the No.
1 overall NBA Draft pick taken the year between Victor Wembanyama and Cooper Flagg.
That didn't work out how the Atlanta Hawks hoped, and Risacher is now Flagg's newest teammate.
The Dallas Mavericks got themselves involved in a three-team trade on Sunday, with the details coming from ESPN's Shams Charania.
The Mavs are bringing in Risacher and sending out point guard Ryan Nembhard to Atlanta.
The Hawks are also getting Lu Dort, the muscular defensive mastermind, from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
For Dort, OKC is getting three second-round picks in return as they continue to cut salary.
"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," Charania wrote on X.
The Hawks have created an incredible defensive unit on the wing with Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
But it's the Mavs who come away with the guy with the incredible draft pedigree in Risacher.
MORE: Caleb Wilson fires a subtle shot at AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson The 6-foot-8 wing from France has played 142 games through his first two NBA seasons and averaged 11.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while shooting 36.0% from 3-point range.
He lost out on playing time in the late stages of the 2025-26 season, making him expendable for Atlanta.
In reality, he could pair well with Flagg.
Risacher's potential stems in large part from the things he does well without the basketball.
He's a great cutter and has a sense of knowing where he should be.
The Mavericks have other players to initiate offense.
Risacher can use his length and movement at each end of the floor to make a difference.
The Hawks and Thunder may have been able to pull off most of this trade without the Mavericks, but Dallas got its way into the trade and came away with a former No.
1 pick.
Dort in Atlanta will be a difference maker.
The Thunder continue to stockpile draft picks.
But looking back on this trade in five years, the most fascinating thing will be to see how the Risacher to the Mavs aspect turned out.
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