Post Analytics

Let’s be honest about it. When you line up the last five No. 1 overall picks: Cade Cunningham, Paolo Banchero, Victor Wembanyama, Zaccharie Risacher, and now Cooper Flagg. One name is not in the same conversation. Every other pick became the center of gravity for their franchise. Cade runs everything in Detroit. Paolo flipped Orlando into a real team. Wembanyama is living up to the expectations. Flagg already looks like a two-way cornerstone in the making. And then there’s Risacher. Solid player? Sure. Franchise-defining? No. For a No. 1 pick, averaging around 10 points as a connector might be alarming. And the biggest tell might be coming from Atlanta itself. According to ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel, the Hawks have already shown openness to including Risacher in trade discussions for Anthony Davis. That says a lot. Teams don’t entertain moving a true cornerstone this early. They protect him at all costs. Risacher may end up a really good NBA player for a long time. But when stacked against the standard set by recent No. 1 picks, the gap is glaring.