The Rookie of the Year race is still wide open, but Hawks guard Trae Young believes teammate Zaccharie Risacher should be the favorite, writes Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The top pick in last year’s draft has been given more responsibility than some of his competitors, becoming an instant starter for a team that appears headed to the play-in tournament.
“He should be, in my eyes, and I’m not saying it because I’m biased, but I think (he) should be Rookie of the Year,” Young said. “What he’s been doing this year, he’s been thrown into the fire as a starter. You put him up against some of the guys in the running. I think his numbers speak for himself, too. So he’s just not even focused on that. And that’s the best part about it. And we’re kind of, we’re kind of making it easy for him to just focus on the game, focus himself and having fun and having games like tonight, and just letting it loose and letting it fly.”
Risacher, who won’t turn 20 until next month, has posted solid numbers in his first season, averaging 11.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game with .443/.350/.719 shooting stats. His teammates have tried to ease the transition as he adjusts to the NBA after playing in France, and Risacher said it has helped.
“I feel like every game I feel more comfortable. I’m able to learn like every possession,” Risacher said. “Honestly, it’s a new environment. I got great teammates, too. They helped me a lot on the court and off the court, and I’m just in great condition to learn, with, like, the coaches, my teammates, the organization. We’re playing a lot of games, so it’s like it’s great for young player like me to be able to compete every night with those guys.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- A technical foul called against Young late in the third quarter of the Hawks‘ win over Charlotte on Tuesday has been rescinded, the league announced (via Twitter).
- Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. is having a down year statistically, but he proved at Cleveland on Sunday that he can still affect the outcome of a game, observes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Carter had 16 points and 14 rebounds as Orlando snapped the Cavaliers’ 16-game winning streak. “Wendell was super aggressive in the game being really physical,” Franz Wagner said. “When he’s like that, he’s one of the best bigs in the league. He was a game-changer on both sides of the floor for us in that game. He’s one of those guys when his spirit is like that, it carries over to a lot of the other guys as well. When I talked about aggressiveness, I don’t just mean making shots or anything like that. It’s just the demeanor that they played with, finding different ways, especially on defense, to change the game.”
- LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges both sat out the Hornets‘ game Tuesday night, and that could happen more often as the season winds down, suggests Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.