De’Aaron Fox knows exactly what it looks like to walk into Sacramento as a 19-year-old rookie and try to make sense of everything around you.
He did it in 2017 after the Kings took him with the No. 5 pick. Now, more than nine years later, he was back at Golden 1 Center on Friday night in a different uniform, standing in the visitors’ locker room after the Spurs beat Sacramento 124-109. Down the hall, another 19-year-old point guard was starting that same journey for the Kings: Darius Acuff Jr., the No. 7 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Fox didn’t overcomplicate the message for him.
“Just be patient,” Fox said after the game. “I think that was a big thing.
We turned it around for a bit. Obviously, it wasn’t long-lasting, but you try to find that consistency.
Obviously, when you have coaching changes and things like that, it’s hard to find that. But at some point, you want to have that type of stability.”
That advice comes from experience. During his eight seasons in Sacramento, Fox played for five different coaches and three different general managers. He also spent his first stretch behind George Hill before eventually taking over the job and becoming the face of the franchise for the next seven years.
The Kings are trying to build around Acuff now, even with a rough 1-8 start to the 2026-27 season. Reports have indicated Doug Christie’s job is safe for the moment, with the front office giving him time to work through injuries and other issues.
Fox has been tracking Acuff for a while, and the connection goes back to college. Both played for John Calipari - Fox at Kentucky, Acuff at Arkansas after Calipari made the move.
And Fox likes what he sees.
“Yeah, I watched him a lot at Arkansas. I mean, he can put the ball in the basket,” Fox said.
“That’s the big thing about him. He can score the ball in various ways.
Once he becomes more efficient, he’s going to see all types of coverages. See two guys being thrown at him and he’ll be able to get guys any shot that he wants.”
Acuff’s numbers through his first nine NBA games show why the Kings are leaning on him so heavily. He entered Friday averaging 25.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists, and he was third in the league in field-goal attempts behind Brandon Miller and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He also ranked in the top 15 in assists.
That’s the balancing act ahead for him: score like a lead option, but keep the playmaking sharp enough to make defenses pay for loading up.
Fox sees the path clearly.
“I think that helps whenever you touch the paint; when teams know you’re willing to pass the ball, then they start to fan out a little bit more, and that makes scoring that much easier,” Fox said. “Obviously, he’s already making tough buckets, but when you’re doing that, when you’re able to kind of balance both, I think that was a big thing for me, was learning how to balance both of those things.
“When you do that, especially at a high level, even looking at guys like Luka [Dončić], LeBron [James], Shai, when their playmaking got better, their scoring got better. It makes the game a lot easier when you’re able to do both.”
Acuff gave Sacramento another glimpse of that two-way burden on Friday, finishing with a team-high 22 points on 9-of-20 shooting, including 3 of 9 from 3-point range, along with three rebounds, eight assists and two turnovers in 33 minutes.
For Fox, it’s familiar territory. For Acuff, it’s the work in front of him now.
In Other News...
Kings Fans Have A New Reason To Believe In Darius Acuff Jr
Darius Acuff Jr. has given Kings fans something tangible to latch onto during a rough stretch, and it has come in the form of steady production from a 19-year-old who is already looking far more polished than his age suggests. He has become one of the leagues leading scorers, averaging 25.2 points per game while pushing his shooting efficiency above 40 percent, a sign that the volume is starting to come with real progress.
His latest outing only strengthened the case that Sacramento may have found a cornerstone worth building around. Acuff posted a career-best 34 points, 14 assists, six rebounds and a steal, and in the process joined LeBron James as one of just two teenagers in NBA history to reach certain statistical milestones in a half. Even with the Kings still searching for consistency, Acuffs rise has become one of the few reasons the season feels worth tracking closely. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Suddenly Have A Rotation Question They Cant Ignore
Dylan Cardwell is back in the mix for Sacramento after missing time with a left calf strain, and his second game of the season offered a reminder of why the Kings have been intrigued by him. In limited minutes, he brought energy on the defensive end and gave the team a different look around the rim, which is exactly the kind of presence Sacramento has been trying to find behind Domantas Sabonis.
The bigger question now is how the Kings make use of that defensive lift without crowding the center rotation. Sabonis remains the starter, but Cardwells impact has been noticeable enough that his playing time no longer feels like a throwaway detail. For a team trying to tighten up on that end, finding the right balance could matter more than it did a week ago. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Loss Put Doug Christies Rotation Search In Focus
The Kings first Emirates NBA Cup game brought the same familiar problem into sharper view: Doug Christie is still searching for a workable rotation, and the latest loss only made that hunt more urgent. Sacramento fell 124-109 to the Spurs and slipped to 1-8, a start that has left little room for experimentation but plenty of need for it as Christie keeps sorting out who fits where.
Leaky Black got the start and was one of the few bright spots, leading the Kings with 12 points while adding a little of everything else across 40 minutes. Dylan Cardwell also gave Sacramento a boost in his return from injury, producing 9 points, 3 assists and 3 blocks in limited time, but the broader issue remains the same: the Kings are still trying to find combinations that can steady them before the season gets away from them. [Read more 🡒]