Sports Illustrated’s re-draft of the 2024 NBA first round moved Zaccharie Risacher out of the No. 1 spot and down to No. 4, placing Stephon Castle ahead of him after two years of NBA action. The shift is a blunt verdict on a class that never carried the usual star power of a typical draft.
That is why Risacher is drawing attention now. He was the original No. 1 pick in 2024, and the re-ranking gives a fresh answer to the question of whether Atlanta would make the same choice again. The answer, at least in this exercise, is no.
Castle’s rise explains the jump. He was the No. 4 pick in the original draft, but he has since won Rookie of the Year and helped Victor Wembanyama in the Spurs’ run to the Finals this season. That kind of production made him the clear choice at the top of the revised board, even in a class that needed time to separate its best players from the rest.
Risacher is not being written off. He was seen as a strong upside play at a coveted position and was viewed as having the potential to become a top 3-and-D player in the NBA. He is only 21 years old, and the piece still sees room for him to develop into a strong piece alongside Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels.
But the re-draft also says something less flattering for the Hawks. Risacher is described as a fine player, yet Atlanta likely wants a do-over because Castle has played like the superior choice. That is the friction now: a No. 1 pick who still has time on his side, and a rival pick who has already turned early promise into a better-looking answer.
The bigger judgment is that two years were enough to redraw the class at the top. Risacher can still become part of the long view for Atlanta, but this latest ranking shows that the first pick in 2024 is no longer being treated as the best one.
