The Sacramento Kings used the No. 7 pick on Darius Acuff Jr., and the early buzz around the 19-year-old guard has already reached some pretty lofty company. Former NBA All-Star John Wall didn’t just like what he saw - he went out of his way to put Acuff Jr. in a class of his own.
Wall, speaking during Sacramento’s Summer League game against the Washington Wizards, said, "I told Coach Cal yesterday, I said, 'You've had a lot of great guards that were super fast and athletic. He's the best scoring point guard you've had by far.'
He's got the midrange, got the floater, [and] can shoot the three. ... He can definitely score the ball, though, for sure.
He scores it man," Wall said on the broadcast of Sacramento's Summer League matchup with the Washington Wizards.
That kind of praise carries real weight because of who it’s coming from. Wall and Acuff Jr. both played for John Calipari, and Calipari’s track record with elite guards is long enough to make any comparison stand out. The source material notes that some of the best guards in the NBA came through Calipari’s program, which is why Wall’s words land so hard for Kings fans.
Acuff Jr. has already shown why Sacramento was willing to bet on him. In the California Classic Summer League, he put up 47 points and seven assists across two games in front of the home crowd.
He also had a game-high 25 points in his debut, helping Sacramento beat Brooklyn. There were efficiency concerns along the way, but the shot-making and ability to get to his spots were obvious.
The next stretch in Las Vegas was less clean. Over his first two games there, Acuff Jr. scored 31 points, grabbed four rebounds and handed out 11 assists, but he shot 29.4% from the field and 23.1% from three while committing nine turnovers. He finished his Summer League run on a stronger note before being shut down, going for 26 points and five assists on 9-for-18 shooting.
That up-and-down stretch is part of the package right now. Acuff Jr. will need more consistency as a rookie, but Sacramento doesn’t need him to be perfect immediately. The Kings are not in a hurry to chase contention, and if he keeps flashing the scoring ability that Wall raved about, there’s plenty to build on.
For now, the appeal is simple: Acuff Jr. looks like a real offensive talent, and if that game develops the way Wall believes it can, Sacramento may have landed a legitimate star.
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