Zaccharie Risacher’s start with the Dallas Mavericks has been a strange mix of frustration and impact.
On offense, the former No. 1 overall pick has been rough through four games. He’s shooting 30.8 percent from the field, 17.6 percent from deep, and averaging a career-low 8.0 points per game.
The jump shot hasn’t come around, he’s missed some easy ones near the rim, and outside of his speed and length in transition, he hasn’t looked settled. Too often, he plays like he’s in a hurry, with his reads looking set before the defense even reacts.
And yet, Dusty May can’t take him off the floor.
Risacher is averaging a career-high 30.0 minutes per game even though he has come off the bench in three of the four contests, and the reason is simple: his defense has become his calling card. He’s averaging 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks per game after never topping 0.9 steals or blocks per game across his first two seasons. That’s a major shift, and it’s showing up every night.
It was on full display Monday against the Miami Heat. Risacher went just 2-for-13 from the field, but he still logged 30 minutes and helped Dallas come away with a 113-109 win. He stayed locked in on the defensive end no matter how the shots were falling, and that consistency has made him hard to pull.
He finished with three blocks, one steal and six defensive rebounds, and his late stop on Davion Mitchell’s drive with less than 10 seconds left helped seal the game. Risacher was on the floor in crunch time alongside Kyrie Irving, Cooper Flagg, P.J. Washington and Morez Johnson Jr., and it wouldn’t be surprising if that group keeps seeing the court together in big moments.
He may not be Dallas’ best point-of-attack defender, but he can survive those possessions and make drivers work. His effort level has been relentless, and the numbers back it up. Risacher is tied with Flagg for second in the league in “stocks” with 16, which includes steals and blocks, trailing only Victor Wembanyama.
He’s already matched his total of three-block games for the Mavericks in four games as he did over two seasons with the Hawks. That’s the kind of rim protection Dallas didn’t have before, and his length, fearlessness and athleticism have made him a serious problem as a help defender. One of his best blocks of the season came on Wembanyama over the weekend.
The broader picture is hard to ignore. Dallas has been 24.6 points per 100 possessions better with Risacher on the floor than with him on the bench. It’s a small sample, but it lines up with what the eye test says: the Mavericks are clearly better when he’s out there.
Risacher still has to get his offense right. But even with the ugly shooting start, his hustle, defense and rebounding have made him one of the most impactful players on the roster in the opening week of the season.
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