The Sacramento Kings are off to a clean 2-0 start at the California Classic, and the latest win came with a little more grit than style. Playing without four key pieces, Sacramento erased a second-half deficit and beat the Golden State Warriors Blue team 91-85.
The comeback mattered because the Kings had been in trouble for much of the night. Golden State Blue controlled the game until Sacramento started turning the tide late, and the Kings were still down with nine minutes left before finishing strong enough to steal the win. With Darius Acuff Jr., Dylan Cardwell, and Nique Clifford all resting, and Alex Karaban still working back from the ankle strain he suffered in practice last week, Sacramento had to lean on a different group to get it done.
That group delivered. Isaiah Stevens, who is in the second year of his two-year two-way contract with the Kings, went from not playing in the first game to logging just over 27 minutes in this one. He made the most of the opportunity, putting up 18 points, one rebound, four assists, and one steal.
Stevens was part of a broader rotation shift that gave several players a real chance to make their case. Adam Flagler, Haowen Guo, Marquel Sutton, and Viktor Lahkin all saw action after having limited minutes, or none at all, in the Kings’ first game against the Nets. With the roster shorthanded, those minutes became a chance to show the front office what they can offer moving forward.
One player still waiting for his turn was Elias Ralph. He stayed on the bench for the entire game and was the only Kings player who did not get on the court.
Even so, he still has another chance to make his case in Vegas during the Summer League. Golden State’s Blue team, meanwhile, was the opponent in Sacramento, while the Warriors’ Gold team played in San Francisco, with Yaxel Lendeborg on that Gold roster.
In Other News...
Dylan Cardwell Looks Like A Kings Find But One Issue Looms
Dylan Cardwell has given the Kings a pretty good reason to keep watching him this summer. The undrafted center out of Auburn has flashed real defensive value during the California Classic, using his length and activity to make plays around the rim and show why Sacramento brought him in on a two-way contract.
The problem is the same one that can quickly shrink a promising summer into a short stint: foul trouble. Cardwell has been impactful when he stays on the floor, but the whistles have kept interrupting his rhythm and limiting his minutes, leaving the Kings with a clear development point to monitor as they try to figure out whether his defense can translate into something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]
DeMar DeRozans Kings Exit Suddenly Feels A Lot More Real
DeMar DeRozans future has drifted into the kind of summer limbo that can change quickly once the biggest dominoes start to fall. Jake Fischer reported that the veteran wing could wind up as a fallback option for teams that miss out on LeBron James, with the Warriors, Cavaliers and Heat among the clubs to watch if their bigger swing does not land. For Sacramento, it is another reminder that DeRozans stint has moved from on-court fit to roster math, with the Kings now weighing what comes next for a player who arrived with real expectations.
What makes the situation feel more real is how little room there appears to be for a clean reunion with the market he once occupied. DeRozan is still a free agent, and the expectation is that he will land somewhere on a veteran minimum deal, which says plenty about where his value sits at this stage of his career. For the Kings, the question is no longer whether they can build around him, but how soon they decide to move on and let the rest of the league sort out the chase. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Summer League Momentum Just Added Another Intriguing Twist
The Kings Summer League run in Las Vegas got a little more interesting with the addition of Maxime Raynaud, who missed the California Classic while away on French national team duty. Sacramento already rolled through that event at 3-0, with several rookies and second-year players helping set an upbeat tone, and Raynaud now joins a group that has spent the first stretch of July trying to turn that early momentum into something more cohesive.
Raynaud gives the roster another young piece to evaluate, and his arrival adds to a camp that general manager Scott Perry has framed around effort and chemistry as much as results. Perry has been encouraged by Raynauds development, and with the Kings continuing to mix in new faces and returning players in Las Vegas, the next few days should offer a clearer look at how much of that California Classic success can carry over once the competition gets sharper. [Read more 🡒]