The Dallas Mavericks got a rough opening-night reality check in a 128-110 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, and Zaccharie Risacher’s debut in the spotlight did not calm any of the buzz around his game. If anything, it sharpened the questions.
Dallas spent the summer talking itself into Risacher, and plenty of fans bought in. The Mavericks sent Ryan Nembhard and a second-round pick to bring him in, banking on the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft to benefit from a fresh start after an uneven second season in Atlanta.
The hope was never that he’d arrive as a finished product. It was that he could grow into a major part of the young core - maybe not a star, but at least the kind of high-level starter the fan base had been picturing.
Instead, the first look was messy.
Risacher finished with four points, six rebounds, five steals and three turnovers in 26 minutes, shooting 2-for-7 overall and 0-for-4 from three. Both of his makes came on open finishes at the rim.
The glass work, the activity on defense and the energy all showed up, but the offensive package looked thin. He didn’t look like a player ready to threaten defenses outside of cutting or running the floor in transition.
That was the concern from the start of the night, and it only grew as the game wore on. His baskets came when the outcome was already slipping away, and that late-game scoring pattern followed what he showed in the preseason. The jump shot looked rushed, the decisions looked preloaded, and the confidence never really surfaced.
There was also the lineup wrinkle many expected to see go Risacher’s way. Despite speculation and plenty of hope that he would start at shooting guard, Max Christie got the nod instead.
Christie wasn’t sharp either, finishing with five points on 2-for-8 shooting, but he at least looked settled into the role. Risacher, by contrast, appeared out of sync.
That matters because the Mavericks are already dealing with shooting problems. They went 11-for-38 from deep, and Risacher’s 0-for-4 night from beyond the arc fit right into that struggle. If he can’t punish open looks, it becomes much harder for him to stay on the floor.
The positives are still there in the margins. He competes.
He rebounds. He gets after it defensively.
But Dusty May is going to need more than hustle and activity if Risacher is going to become a reliable rotation piece. For now, the project looks like it’s going to take time - maybe a lot of it.
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For Mavericks fans, the uncomfortable part is how often that conversation drifts back to familiar names. The Lakers need has prompted speculation about players who can add depth up front, and one of the more interesting options in that orbit is PJ Washington, a player Dallas knows well from its Finals run with Luka Doncic. Even without a deal on the table, the mere fact that the Lakers are still shopping for another big keeps Dallas in the middle of a debate it probably would rather not have to revisit. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks May Need Santi Aldama Sooner Than Anyone Expected
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That matters because the Mavericks could use more offensive versatility from the frontcourt, and Aldama brings the kind of stretch-big skill set that can change how a defense has to guard them. Dallas is still searching for cleaner production on that end, so the question is not just when Aldama will be ready, but how quickly he can become part of the solution once he is. [Read more 🡒]