The Sacramento Kings left Summer League with a 5-3 record, but the bigger takeaway wasn’t the wins and losses. It was what they learned about Darius Acuff Jr., the No. 7 overall pick and the rookie point guard they’ve been circling for months.
Acuff was the player under the brightest spotlight all summer, and for good reason. Sacramento has spent a long time trying to solve the point guard spot, moving on from Tyrese Haliburton and De’Aaron Fox before attempting to patch the hole with Dennis Schroder. Acuff is supposed to be part of the rebuild answer, at least in theory.
There were encouraging moments in the California Classic, where the Kings went 3-0. Vegas, though, painted a shakier picture.
Sacramento finished that stretch 2-3, and Acuff’s own play followed that same uneven arc. His shooting was only so-so, his turnovers piled up, and his defense was, as the source put it, “borderline non-existent,” though Scott Perry isn’t worried about that part.
The Kings eventually sat him for the final couple of games, officially to manage his workload. That explanation feels a little thin when October’s preseason is still ahead, and the more obvious read is that Acuff simply wasn’t playing well enough to stay in the lineup.
Some of that can be explained by age. He’s 19, and rookies usually need time before the game slows down and the mistakes start to shrink. The expectation is that his efficiency will rise and the turnovers will come down as he settles in.
Defense is the real question, though. That has always been the weak spot in his game, and it remains the issue Sacramento has to watch most closely.
If it improves, the Kings can keep building around the talent they drafted. If it doesn’t, and the offense never becomes strong enough to cover for it, the risk is obvious: another draft miss for Sacramento.
In Other News...
Kings Fans May Not Like Where This Center Chase Is Heading
The Kings had their eye on another big man in restricted free agent Jalen Duren, a target who made sense on paper for a team still sorting out its long-term frontcourt. Sacramento has already added young centers Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell, but Durens blend of size and two-way ability would have fit a roster looking for more stability in the middle.
The problem is the path to getting him never really opened up. Detroits stance has cooled the chase, and the Kings now appear to be shifting away from a pursuit that once carried some intrigue around the league, including the kind of hypothetical swap that would have sent Domantas Sabonis the other way. For Sacramento, it leaves the center picture leaning on internal options for now, with the Duren idea looking more like a brief detour than a real possibility. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Fans Will Have Strong Feelings About This Scott Perry Rumor
Mario Hezonja is making another run at the NBA after leaving Real Madrid, and the rumor mill has already done what it always does with a name like that. For Kings fans, the connection is easy to see: Scott Perry knows Hezonja from their shared past, and that kind of front-office familiarity tends to fuel speculation whenever a player with league experience becomes available.
Hezonjas path has already taken him from being a high lottery pick in Orlando to stops with several NBA teams before he headed back to Europe, so this would not be some out-of-nowhere reunion story. The bigger question for Sacramento is whether the chatter means anything real or just another case of a familiar name getting linked to a team because of old ties, with the next move still very much up in the air. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Suddenly Face A Russell Westbrook Decision Fans Wont Ignore
Russell Westbrooks first season in Sacramento gave the Kings exactly the kind of seasoned presence they were hoping for when they signed him to a one-year deal before the 2025-26 campaign. After going unsigned in free agency, he settled into a valuable veteran role for a young roster, bringing energy, experience and a steady hand to a team that could use both as it keeps building.
Still, the next step is far from clear. Westbrooks future in the NBA remains uncertain, and while Sacramento can see the appeal of keeping a veteran backup point guard in the mix behind Darius Acuff Jr., the market around him is not lining up neatly. Scott Perry has already made it clear the guard outplayed a minimum contract, which only adds to the intrigue around what kind of deal, if any, is actually there. [Read more 🡒]