Zaccharie Risacher's Hip Injury Adds Another Dent to His Dallas Fresh Start

Zaccharie Risacher is officially questionable for Saturday with a hip issue, which is just about the last thing the former number one overall pick needs right now.

A questionable tag in the modern NBA usually means a guy sneezed too hard at shootaround, but for a player desperately trying to prove he belongs in a rotation, any missed time is a disaster. Risacher is currently trying to hit the reset button with the Dallas Mavericks after a sophomore slump in Atlanta that had people checking the return policy on draft picks.

"Underdog NBA reported the questionable tag for Saturday."

He is currently averaging 7.5 points and 6.0 rebounds for Dallas, which is perfectly fine if you are an undrafted energy guy, but less fine when you carry the historical baggage of being the top guy in your class. He just logged 27 minutes in a 128-110 blowout loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, putting up a truly bizarre stat line of four points on 2-for-7 shooting while somehow grabbing a career-high five steals.

Dallas actually needs him on the floor right now, which makes this hip contusion incredibly poorly timed. The Mavericks are already operating a makeshift hospital ward with Santi Aldama, Dereck Lively, and Caleb Martin all dealing with their own injuries. If Risacher sits, the Mavericks are going to be pulling guys out of the stands to play the wing.

For anyone staring at the prop market, this is the kind of injury news that turns a standard Saturday slate into a math problem. If Risacher is ruled out, all those available minutes and usage have to go somewhere, creating a massive ripple effect for the remaining healthy bodies in the Dallas lineup.

We will likely get a final update closer to tip-off. Until then, Mavericks fans are stuck waiting to see if Risacher can get back on the court and actually start looking like the franchise cornerstone he was supposed to be.