Darius Acuff Jr. is about to be thrown right into the fire for the Sacramento Kings, and the roster around him doesn’t offer much relief.
The Kings have no real alternative at starting point guard, which is why the rookie is set to open the season in that role. The problem is obvious: if Acuff has to shoulder a full 48 minutes night after night, that workload could wear him down fast. Sacramento still has one roster spot open, and the front office needs to use it on a point guard.
Right now, the Kings are carrying 17 players, including three on two-way deals: Isaiah Stevens, Adam Flagler, and Jonathan Mogbo. That leaves one opening, and the need at the one is hard to ignore.
Malik Monk is still on the roster, and the Kings are not actively shopping him. If the right opportunity comes along, though, the front office would take a look. Even so, Monk’s value is tied more to his shooting off the bench than to running the offense as a secondary playmaker.
Emanuel Sharp can handle some point guard duties too, but he’s dealing with the same kind of learning curve as Acuff. And with Sacramento not bringing back legendary point guard Russell Westbrook, the depth chart at the position looks thin.
That thinness got even more noticeable after the departures of Devin Carter and Killian Hayes. Nobody is claiming those two were difference-makers, but either one would have helped as a veteran backup while Acuff and Sharp develop.
The simplest answer would be to bring Westbrook back. He could back up Acuff and help guide the Kings’ new starter at the same time. That would make sense for both sides, yet Sacramento appears to be moving away from that path.
If the free-agent market keeps drying up, the Kings may have to get creative. Undrafted guards are still an option, and names like Milos Uzan and Nick Boyd have been mentioned as players with real upside. Isaiah Stevens is also in the mix, and he’s already in the second year of a two-way contract with Sacramento.
Depending on how the California Classic and NBA Summer League unfold, the Kings could decide to give Stevens a standard NBA deal and then add Urzan or Boyd on a two-way contract. That would give them a better cushion behind Acuff and another developmental guard to work with.
In Other News...
Kings May Have Found Another Raynaud Style Rotation Answer
Emanuel Sharp has wasted no time giving Sacramento a reason to lean in after the 2026 NBA Draft. The Kings took the guard with the 45th pick, and his early Summer League work has looked the part of a player who can at least force his way into the conversation, from a strong showing in the California Classic to a debut in Las Vegas that turned heads for more than just his scoring. For a team that spent last season near the bottom in defense and at the back of the league in made threes, any young perimeter piece who can help on both ends is going to get a long look.
The caution, of course, is that Summer League can flatter almost anyone for a week or two, and Sacramento knows better than to crown a rookie on July results alone. Still, Sharp has done enough to create a real buzz around the Kings' backcourt mix, especially with Darius Acuff Jr. saying Sharp has been the team's best player over the last few games. Whether that holds once the games count is a different question, but the early signs have been encouraging enough to make him one of the more interesting names in camp. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Fans Can Feel This Kuminga Pursuit Getting Complicated
The Kings have spent the offseason trying to keep their options open, and Jonathan Kuminga has quickly become one of the more intriguing names on their radar. Sacramentos improved salary-cap flexibility gives it more room to work than it had before, but the club is still operating in a range where a straightforward free-agent payday may not be realistic for a player drawing this much attention.
That is where the pursuit starts to get tricky. A sign-and-trade appears to be the cleanest path if the Kings want to stay in the conversation, but they are hardly alone in trying to thread that needle, and the market around Kuminga could end up deciding which team is willing and able to go the furthest. For Sacramento, the interest is real, but so are the financial hurdles standing in the way. [Read more 🡒]