NEW YORK (AP) — Since the Atlanta Hawks took the lucky number in a surprise victory in the draft lottery, speculation about which player they could choose with the number one has focused on the Frenchmen Alexx Starr and Zaccharie Risacher.
Although Donovan Clingan hopes he has shown something that will change their minds.
The center who twice won the national championship with UConn also visited the Hawks and believes he had a good performance.
“I think training went well, but we’ll see tomorrow,” Clingan said Tuesday.
Last year there was no mystery.
Victor Wembanyama was the undisputed choice of the San Antonio Spurs and the French center has proven that he was the right choice after being named Rookie of the Year. When the two-day draft begins Wednesday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, another Frenchman — or maybe two — could hear Commissioner Adam Silver say his name.
Starr, a 7-foot-3 center, spent last season in Australia’s National Basketball League in Perth; Riscacher is a forward who had an impressive season in France.
The players are friends and were teammates on the French team that won the silver medal at the U-19 World Cup in 2023.
“I think we are two different players,” Sarr said. “We cannot compare ourselves. “We play two different positions and we both bring different skills to the game.”
If the first selection is Sarr or Risacher it will be the first time that they do not choose with the first selection a player who came out of the American college in consecutive years.
Clingan and UConn teammate Stephon Castle, as well as Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham, want to make sure it will be a positive night for the college powers as well.
But France could be the one celebrating.
Sarr wouldn’t confirm whether he trained with Atlanta, but he may have enough skills for the Hawks to consider him their first draft pick since 1975 — which they didn’t expect to get because they had only a 3% chance of winning the lottery. .
Or it could be Risacher, who believes his country will have more draft memories in the years to come.
“My view is that a lot of good players are going to come in and it’s incredible to see our growth as a nation,” Risacher acknowledged, adding, “I can’t wait to see other good players be in the draft.”
