The Sacramento Kings are only nine games into the season, but the early mood around the team is already sour. At 1-8 with seven double-digit losses, the start has gone well beyond rough.
Darius Acuff Jr. has been exactly what the Kings hoped for and looks like a future star, while Leaky Black has delivered a breakout performance and Emanuel Sharp has flashed strong play at times. Beyond that, the list of positives gets thin fast.
That makes the disappointment column easy to fill, even if narrowing it to three is the hard part.
Nique Clifford sits near the top of it. He entered the year as one of the team’s biggest X-factors, with plenty of hope that he would make a sophomore leap and lock down the future shooting guard spot next to Acuff.
Instead, he has slipped almost completely out of the rotation. Clifford is averaging just 6.3 minutes per game and has produced 1.6 points, 1.0 assist and 0.9 rebounds while shooting 35.3% from three and 12.5% from three.
Last season, Clifford had a reputation for impacting the game in a bunch of small ways and doing the dirty work that helps a team function. This year, that presence has mostly vanished. Whether the issue is fit next to Acuff or the larger mix of Acuff, Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk, Clifford has not found a way to carve out a real role.
Doug Christie on Nique Clifford:“He got in tonight and I thought he did good with his minutes, which will help him continue to gain minutes…”“There’s a logjam in certain areas, so it’s nothing that Nique is or isn’t doing.”Clifford had 5/2/2 in 5 garbage time minutes. pic.twitter.com/wwJCAcbAgY
The pattern isn’t new, either. Clifford had a similar issue last season, struggling to make much happen when he shared the floor with the veterans but standing out more when he played with the younger group. He didn’t need to dominate the ball, but he was clearly more effective in a larger role than when he was tucked into the background.
For a late first-round pick, fading can happen. But for a player who looked like he could be part of the Kings’ core, it’s a frustrating turn and one that reflects poorly on Scott Perry’s drafting resume.
Alex Karaban belongs in the same conversation. Like Clifford, he was one of Perry’s late first-round additions, and like Clifford, he has done little so far to look like a piece of Sacramento’s future. It’s still far too early to make a final judgment, but there was real buzz around Karaban entering the season as a possible stretch four of the future.
Through nine games, though, the numbers are thin: 1.4 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists across five appearances, with 33.3% shooting from the field and 40% from three.
To Karaban’s credit, he has not had much of a chance to prove himself on the floor. That said, that’s part of the issue for Sacramento too. His minutes should rise as the season goes on, but the opening stretch has not given the Kings much to feel good about.
And really, the record is only part of the story. The bigger problem is the way the losses are piling up, especially when combined with last season’s 22-win campaign. That year already felt like a holding pattern while the Kings waited out veteran contracts, and so far this season has looked a lot like more of the same.
Acuff is giving fans something to believe in, but it hasn’t been enough to soften the blow of one blowout after another. Frustration is growing, both on social media and in the building. Kings fans have stuck with this team for a long time, but this season already feels like a breaking point for how much they’re willing to take.
Acuff setting rookie records and putting on a show is nice, but it gets buried under the losses. With 73 games still to go and no clear turnaround in sight, Sacramento has already given itself an early-season disappointment that’s hard to ignore.
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 🡒]
De'Aaron Fox Just Highlighted Darius Acuff's Biggest Early Challenge
De'Aaron Foxs departure from Sacramento still lingers as part of the Kings recent history, and now his perspective is offering a useful early lens on the next wave of talent. After eight years with the franchise before being traded to San Antonio in February 2025, Fox weighed in on rookie Darius Acuff Jr., the No. 7 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, and pointed to the same thing many young lead guards eventually have to learn: how to keep the scoring threat alive without letting the playmaking slip.
Acuff has arrived with plenty of production, averaging 25.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists through his first nine NBA games, which is exactly why Foxs advice matters. The challenge now is less about proving he can score and more about building the kind of balance that lets a guard control a game for the long haul, a test that tends to define whether a promising start becomes something bigger for Sacramento. [Read more 🡒]