Emanuel Sharp gave the Sacramento Kings plenty to like this summer, and he may have given the rest of the league a reason to look back at the 45th pick a little differently.
After a strong NBA Summer League run, Sharp has started to build the kind of buzz that usually follows a player who outperforms his draft slot. It is still early, but the second-rounder has clearly made a case for himself with the way he handled both ends of the floor.
Sharp arrived in Sacramento after four seasons at Houston and was taken 45th overall in the 2026 NBA Draft. The Kings had been watching him, even if he was not the only name linked to that selection.
In the end, the fit made sense. Sacramento added a true wing, and that matters for a team trying to strengthen a position group that has been a problem area.
The Kings also addressed point guard with Darius Acuff Jr., who went seventh overall, but Sharp’s appeal is a little different. He brings a physical edge as a shooting guard, along with the kind of defensive pressure that can change possessions.
He gets stops, he picks pockets, and he can make teams pay from deep. He also has enough shot creation to put stress on a defense.
That showed up during the summer. Across the California Classic and the Las Vegas Summer League, Sacramento played eight games, and Sharp appeared in seven of them.
In every one of those outings, he scored in double figures. He also piled up 18 steals, which worked out to 2.6 per game.
In Vegas, he drew notice for the way he competed. Commentators praised his energy and his refusal to let up. He was active in the passing lanes, disruptive on defense, and steady enough on offense to hit more than 43% of his threes while delivering timely baskets.
That kind of production makes him look like a real bargain at No. 45.
Four years in college have left him looking polished and prepared, and he plays like someone who understands what it takes to stick. It may be too soon to hand out the “steal of the draft” label with the regular season still three months away, but Sharp is firmly in that conversation.
If he carries this level into 2026-2027, the Kings may have landed one of the league’s best rookies.
In Other News...
Kings May Have Quietly Chosen The Core That Defines This Rebuild
The Kings rebuild has started to look less like a sweeping teardown and more like a slow reveal of the group they intend to live with for a while. Sacramento has mixed young pieces with established veterans, and the way the roster is being shaped suggests the front office is trying to find a workable balance between offense and defense rather than chase a dramatic reset.
That approach also comes with real limits. The club is operating under tight salary-cap pressure and is close enough to the first apron that adding outside help is far from simple, which helps explain why the roster has been trimmed the way it has. Even as the Kings keep sorting out which combinations fit best, the bigger picture is becoming clearer: this looks like the core they are preparing to carry into the 2026-2027 season. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Fans Should Be Watching Daeqwon Plowden Very Closely
Daeqwon Plowden has already done enough in Sacramento to move from a two-way look to a standard NBA contract, and that alone says plenty about how the Kings view his place on the roster. After appearing in 32 games last season and making seven starts, he showed enough scoring punch and enough comfort around the edges of the rotation to earn a longer runway heading into camp.
The bigger question now is where the minutes come from, because the Kings have bodies in front of him and a few different ways to arrange the wing spots. Plowdens best opening appears to be tied to the reshuffling on the perimeter, but he still has to hold off established names and keep proving he belongs in Doug Christies late-game mix if he wants this next step to turn into something more permanent. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Finally Got An Early Sign On Alex Karaban
Alex Karabans summer with Sacramento got off to a delayed start after the ankle injury kept him out of the California Classic, but once he got back on the floor in Las Vegas, the Kings finally had a chance to see why they were willing to make him a first-round target. The 29th overall pick arrived with some real expectations attached, especially for a team trying to build out its next core, and the early returns were uneven enough to leave some questions hanging.
Karaban was quiet through his first three Summer League outings, then found another gear over the final stretch and gave Sacramento a much better glimpse of the player it hoped it was getting. For a Kings front office that traded up to land him, the encouraging part is not just that he looked more comfortable, but that the trajectory shifted quickly enough to suggest there may be more here than a slow summer start. [Read more 🡒]