Welcome Darius Acuff Jr. with open arms! The team welcomes you and without a doubt the Sacramento Kings fan base welcomes you as well.
I sat at Golden One Arena as the 6thpick was announced and Brooklyn chose Mikel Brown Jr., and I honestly stood and celebrated. For once the team that wasn’t grading talent correctly was not the Sacramento Kings.
By now everyone knows that the Kings took Darius Acuff with the 7thpick and the entire arena exploded.
Of course, the experts and pundits would have their say, and the Kings were given a satisfactory score for their 1stround choice in Acuff, but just one year ago, those same experts rated the Kings draft even higher.
I believe they have it wrong and that’s not a knock on Nique Clifford or Maxime Raynauld. Both picks from a year ago represent solid contributions off the bench, but as starters I’m not so sure.
To talk with the Kings organization, they believe that Nique Clifford is a lock as a starter, but judging talent has always been a conundrum for Sacramento and to some extent it still is.
While the Kings experimented all of last season at the point guard position with aging veteran Russell Westbrook, Russell actually received more minutes on the court nightly than either Clifford or Carter.
So, the Kings played all last season with a 3-headed game plan as it relates to their point guard position.
No question both Carter and Clifford benefited from the tutelage of Russell Westbrook, and their game today is understandably better for it. But considering the logjam Sacramento has at point guard, and a heralded point guard joining the team in Darius Acuff, where does that leave the Kings?
Much as Sacramento gave a starting position to Keegan Murray 4 years ago, the same is about to happen with Darius Acuff.
Without question this decision comes with risks, and Doug Christie will need to pay close attention to how quickly young Acuff picks up the NBA game, but the strong likelihood is that his name will be called on opening night. I don’t consider that a bad thing, and I believe that even at the tender age of19, Darius has shown ability that belies his years.
Celebration time Sacramento, if not for the fact that Scott Perry showed true G.M. skills in his ability to not only choose the right pick at #7, but to also acquire another 1stround draft choice.
Not many saw it coming, but the Sacramento Kings actually received two draft picks in the 1stround, as Scott Perry acquired Alex Karaban with the 29thoverall pick in the draft. Listed at 6’8” and 225 lbs., Alex was on two NCAA championship teams and comes with a track record of winning. With 13 points per game, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists, Alex proved his worth and demonstrated the ability to not only be a role player on a championship team, he also shot a respectable 46% from the field.
Should Sacramento Kings fans be celebrating the 2026 draft? If you’re not, I don’t know what you’re looking at.
Summer league will be a preview of both the point guard of the future in Darius Acuff and rookie forward Alex Karaban, and my notion is that Sacramento fans will be more excited after summer league than before.
Not since Sacramento drafted DeAaron Fox have I been more assured that the Kings made the right choice. We’ve all seen the wrong choices, but I believe the 2026 draft will go down as one of the most auspicious drafts since the Kings came to Sacramento.
So, Kings fans, if you haven’t celebrated in a while, now is the time.
I can’t wait for summer league to begin so that fans can see the new talent being inserted into this team.
Undoubtedly there is more to come, and I don’t believe Scott Perry is finished polishing the roster just yet.
Once again, I vote vociferously for Domantas Sabonis to stay on the Kings roster and let the talent on this team and the newly acquired rookies come together.
Resign mega talented Russell Westbrook and allow him to mentor these young point guards while Darius Acuff gets valuable on the job training.
Stay tuned Kings fans, because pleasant surprises are right around the corner!
V.G. Harris
Vince Harris is an area resident and the author of Kings Korner, a regular column in Folsom Times that gives readers a look at the happenings on the court and behind the scenes of the Sacramento Kings.
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