The Sacramento Kings enter the 2026 NBA season with a point guard room that looks deeper than it does settled. There’s talent here, there’s experience here, and there’s also a fair amount of sorting still to do once training camp opens.
At the top of the group, rookie Darius Acuff Jr. appears to be the favorite to start. The expectation is that he’ll step into the lead guard spot and try to carry over the scoring punch he showed at Arkansas.
In 2025 with the Razorbacks, Acuff averaged 23.5 points per game, which ranked third in the nation. For Sacramento, the question isn’t whether he can score - it’s how quickly that game translates to the NBA.
If it does, the Kings may have found a starter who can make an immediate impact.
Behind him, Malik Monk gives Sacramento a proven spark off the bench. He’s already established himself as a reliable scorer in the second unit and, at this point, one of the better sixth men in the league.
Last season, Monk averaged 12.5 points per game off the bench and hit 39.5 percent from three, giving the Kings a shot of offense whenever he checked in. If that production holds, he could put himself in the mix for the sixth man of the year award.
Ben Simmons adds a different look entirely. The veteran guard signed with the Kings in free agency and brings a long résumé of being a dependable NBA piece.
At 6-10 and 240 pounds, Simmons can fill multiple roles, but his strongest traits are downhill pressure on offense, playmaking, versatile defense, and rebounding. Where he lands in the rotation remains to be seen, whether that’s at point guard or elsewhere, but he gives Sacramento another layer of flexibility.
Adam Flagler is another name on the depth chart, and while he hasn’t found much traction in the NBA yet, he has a chance to make noise with this opportunity. He’s on a two-way contract and is coming off a strong G League season in which he averaged 14.5 points, 4.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. That kind of production shows he can help in more than one area, even if he’s not expected to be a major rotation piece right away.
Then there’s Elfrid Payton, the veteran who recently joined the Kings on a training camp deal. He’s in the mix for a final roster spot and will need a strong showing in camp and preseason to stick around.
Over his career, Payton has been a steady point guard because he can get downhill, reach the rim, and create for teammates. His career averages of 9.8 points and 5.8 assists per game reflect that.
If he performs well in the coming weeks, he could play his way onto the roster and maybe even into the rotation.
So while the Kings can point to real depth at point guard, the shape of the rotation is still up in the air. Acuff, Monk, Simmons, Flagler, and Payton all bring something different to the table, and training camp should go a long way toward showing who climbs into key roles and who settles deeper on the bench to start the 2026 season.
In Other News...
Kings Rookies Are Drawing Serious Respect Before The Rotation Battle
Before Sacramento even gets deep into the rotation conversation, its rookie class is already earning notice from the people who know them best. Darius Acuff Jr. was singled out by fellow 2026 NBA draft rookies as the classs best scorer and the most trustworthy option when the game is on the line, which fits the profile he built at Arkansas, where he led the SEC in scoring, and carried into summer league with his shot-making.
Emanuel Sharp got similar respect on the other end of the floor, where his peers picked him as the best defender in the group. His work at Houston already suggested that kind of value, and the Kings are projecting him as a 3-and-D guard who can bring balance to a young backcourt. For a team trying to sort out minutes and roles, having two rookies arrive with that kind of reputation is a promising place to start. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Interest In RJ Barrett Could Signal A Real Roster Shakeup
The Kings offseason has already had a few moving parts, and RJ Barretts name surfacing in Sacramento only adds to the sense that more roster reshuffling could be coming. The reported framework would bring Barrett from Toronto to a Kings team that has shown interest in him before, with the connection to general manager Scott Perry giving the idea a familiar edge rather than a purely speculative one.
On the other side, the Raptors have a crowded enough wing picture that a deal like this at least fits the kind of decision-making teams make when they need to sort out roles and fit. Sacramentos side would not be painless, since Malik Monk remains a useful piece and the inclusion of Nique Clifford and Daeqwon Plowden underscores that this would be more than a simple one-for-one swap. For now, though, there is no official trade, which leaves the question of whether the Kings are truly preparing for a real shakeup or just keeping tabs on another possible pivot. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Suddenly Have A Wing Decision That Could Shape The Rotation
The wing spot has become one of the more intriguing parts of the Kings roster puzzle heading toward the 2026 season. DeAndre Hunter is the clearest bet to open as a starter, but the rest of the group gives Sacramento a very different kind of depth than it has had at times in recent seasons, with Nique Clifford bringing two-way intrigue, Ben Simmons offering versatility and rookie Alex Karaban entering with a chance to carve out a role after a strong college run.
That mix gives the coaching staff options, but it also creates a real decision about how the rotation should be shaped and who deserves the most consistent minutes. Cliffords development could push the picture in one direction, Simmons changes it in another, and Karaban adds a young variable that makes the competition more than just a placeholder battle. For a team looking to maximize lineup flexibility, the wing rotation may end up being one of the quieter but most important roster calls of the summer. [Read more 🡒]