Every draft class needs a grudge, and the 2024 one nearly got its best one for free. Matas Buzelis, the 6-foot-10 G League Ignite product who would land at No. 11 with the Chicago Bulls, spent the pre-draft process telling anyone who’d listen that he wanted to go head-to-head with Zaccharie Risacher — the French wing ESPN had slotted at No. 1 overall. Not in a game. Not in a scrimmage. One-on-one. Ball in hand, no help, settle it.
Risacher’s side never took the meeting.
“Of course, I want to see him one-on-one. He just doesn’t want to do that with me. His agent will not do that with me, and I know he won’t,” Buzelis told BasketNews. “It’s a business decision.”
That last line is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Buzelis wasn’t calling Risacher scared — he was calling the situation what it was. When you’re the projected top pick, the only direction a 1-on-1 session can move you is down. Win, and you were supposed to. Lose, and your stock wobbles. The math is simple, and Buzelis knew it. He just wanted everyone else to know he knew it too.
The Atlanta Hawks drafted Risacher first overall on draft night, making him the second consecutive French player to go No. 1 after Victor Wembanyama in 2023. Buzelis fell to 11, where the Bulls grabbed him — a slide that, fair or not, got filed under “fuel” in certain corners of the internet. The 1-on-1 challenge story recirculated this week on NBA forums, complete with Buzelis’s BasketNews quote, and the timing writes itself: both players are now through their rookie seasons, and the what-if still itches.
Here’s where the cold water lands. Risacher’s rookie year with Atlanta was solid — he started 73 games, averaged over 12 points, and shot 35.5% from three on real volume. Buzelis’s season in Chicago was quieter in minutes but louder in flashes: he became a rotation fixture after the All-Star break, blocked shots at a promising rate, and showed the kind of defensive versatility that made him a top-10 talent on some boards to begin with. Neither player settled the debate. They barely shared a floor.
The Hawks and Bulls met three times in 2024-25. Risacher scored 17 in their first matchup. Buzelis had 6 in limited minutes. In the second meeting, Buzelis played 22 minutes and grabbed 7 rebounds; Risacher went for 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting. The third game was a Bulls win where neither prospect was the story.
So the 1-on-1 still hasn’t happened, and it probably never will — not in any form that matters. Pre-draft workouts are controlled environments, agents run the show, and nobody holding the No. 1 slot is volunteering for a pop quiz. Buzelis understood that. He just wasn’t going to let anyone forget he asked.
Sources: BasketNews; NBA.com draft and game logs.