Zaccharie Risacher Traded to Mavericks in Three-Team Deal

The Oklahoma City Thunder are trading All-Defensive wing Luguentz Dort to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal that sends former No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher to the Dallas Mavericks and Ryan Nembhard to Atlanta, as ESPN's Shams Charania reported Sunday, July 19, 2026. Oklahoma City receives three second-round picks in return.

What the Deal Looks Like

Oklahoma City receives Chicago's 2027 second-round pick via Dallas and Atlanta's most favourable picks in 2031 and 2032. Dallas absorbs Risacher's $13.8 million contract through an existing $20.9 million traded player exception created from the earlier Anthony Davis deal that sent the big man to the Washington Wizards. Nembhard, arriving in Atlanta on a $2.15 million expiring deal, gives the Hawks immediate guard depth without long-term commitment.

Oklahoma City has now acquired seven second-round picks while going under the second apron and shedding $224 million in payroll and tax this offseason via the trades of Dort, Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins, per Charania. The Thunder exercised Dort's $17.7 million team option specifically to flip him for assets and a trade exception rather than simply waiving him a sign of how deliberately Sam Presti has navigated the league's salary architecture.

Risacher's Time in Atlanta, By the Numbers

Zaccharie Risacher arrived in Atlanta on June 26, 2024, as the first overall pick of the NBA Draft out of JL Bourg-en-Bresse in France the second consecutive French player taken No. 1 overall after Victor Wembanyama in 2023. His rookie season was encouraging. He averaged 12.6 points and 3.6 rebounds across 75 games, starting 73 of them, and earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honours.

Year two brought a reduced role. In 67 regular-season games with only 46 starts, Risacher averaged 9.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 22.4 minutes per contest. His position in the rotation thinned as Atlanta acquired CJ McCollum, who moved into the starting backcourt and pushed Risacher to the bench. The Hawks' broader rebuild which also moved Trae Young made Risacher's future in Atlanta increasingly uncertain heading into the summer.

At 21 years old, 6'8" and 200 pounds, Risacher remains a catch-and-shoot wing with legitimate size and length. His scoring efficiency and creation have lagged behind what Atlanta had projected when selecting him, but two seasons at the NBA level is a thin sample to write off a player of his physical profile.

What Dallas Gets and Why It Makes Sense

The Mavericks head into the 2026-27 season with a roster still finding its shape. Dallas struggled in their first full season since the Luka Doncic trade, winning just 26 games, and played the entire campaign without Kyrie Irving, who suffered an ACL injury late in the 2024-25 season.

That changes next year. Irving sat out the entirety of last season during his recovery and is set to return, while reigning Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg enters his second NBA season. Risacher joins a frontcourt that also includes Santi Aldama and Morez Johnson Jr., giving new head coach Dusty May genuine wing depth to work with.

Dallas shot 34.4 percent from three on 31.9 attempts per game last season, with both figures ranking in the bottom five of the NBA. Risacher's catch-and-shoot skillset addresses a clear gap. His $17.4 million fourth-year club option for 2027-28 what would be his fourth NBA season must be decided by October 31, giving Dallas a built-in evaluation window before committing long-term.

Atlanta's New Defensive Identity

The Hawks finish this deal with a perimeter that looks dramatically different from the one that entered the offseason. Atlanta now has Dort alongside Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker on the wings.

Dort, 27, has been a fixture in Oklahoma City's starting lineup over the past seven seasons, earning a spot on the All-Defensive First Team and helping the Thunder win the championship in 2025. Last season, he averaged 8.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists while logging 26.8 minutes per game across 69 appearances numbers that reflect a diminished offensive role but do not capture what he brings defending elite perimeter scorers.

Charania reported that Dort could have a long-term future with the Hawks and is extension-eligible throughout the 2026-27 league year, which transforms this from a rental acquisition into a potential cornerstone defensive signing.

OKC's Offseason Logic

Oklahoma City's motivation was financial, not basketball-driven. The Thunder were $11.8 million above the second apron prior to the deal, per Spotrac. Rather than declining Dort's team option and losing him for nothing, the Thunder picked it up, then acquired three future second-round picks, created a $17.7 million trade exception from Dort's outgoing salary, and placed their 2025 championship contributor in position for a long-term deal in Atlanta an outcome that preserves Dort's career while converting salary into future assets.

The secondary effect is substantial. The Thunder now hold seven additional second-round picks acquired this offseason and operate comfortably below the threshold that triggers the league's harshest roster-building penalties.

Nembhard: The Third Piece

Ryan Nembhard's inclusion completes Atlanta's end of the deal. The undrafted guard out of the 2025 Draft class spent his rookie season with Dallas, where the Mavericks exercised his team option on June 29 before including him in this trade. Nembhard averaged 6.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists across 60 games with 27 starts last season, shooting 41.5 percent from the field. He is the younger brother of Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard.

For Atlanta, Nembhard provides a young, proven point-of-attack option behind their starting backcourt low-cost depth that doesn't complicate the cap picture heading into the summer of 2027.

Risacher's Contract at a Glance

Contract figures confirmed via Spotrac.

Dallas has until the end of October to decide whether to commit to Risacher at $17.4 million for what would be his fourth NBA season. That decision will likely hinge on how he performs in preseason and the opening weeks of 2026-27.

Risacher's $13.8 million contract for 2026-27 confirmed via Spotrac. Trade details first reported via ESPN. Dort's All-Defensive First Team selection confirmed via NBA.com. Risacher's All-Rookie First Team selection confirmed via NBA.com. Nembhard's 2025-26 statistics confirmed via Dallas Mavericks official release.