French prospect Zaccharie Risacher has gone No. 1 overall to the Atlanta Hawks in the 2024 NBA Draft, as oddsmakers expected.
Risacher's odds were as long as +275 a month ago before he shot up the draft board and supplanted fellow countryman Alexandre Sarr as the presumptive No. 1 overall pick over the last few weeks.
The Hawks' new franchise cornerstone had been as long as +425 to go No. 1, which is where he opened earlier this year, according to odds from BetMGM.
Sarr slowly moved down the odds board, opening as long as -300 before his closing mark at a market consensus of around +1100. UConn's Donovan Clingan eventually supplanted Sarr as the second-best favorite to go No. 1 overall.
In line with Risacher's rise was a large influx of money on the player to go No. 1. While in late May, Risacher only had 0.3% of the total handle at BetMGM to go No. 1 overall, by the time the draft rolled around, the 2024 EuroCup Rising Star and LNB Élite Best Young Player represented over 38% of the total money in the market.
Bronny James, the son of LeBron James, had been the most popular pick by far to go No. 1 overall, a curious development filled with retail bettors who wanted to put in a lottery ticket at +20000 to +30000 odds. A $100 wager would have paid out up to $30,000 had Bronny gone No. 1.
Sarr — as a result of his early positioning — represented the second-largest liability across the marketplace. He closed as the heavy, -1100 favorite to go No. 2 overall to the Washington Wizards.
