The Sacramento Kings kept their California Classic run rolling Monday night, edging the Milwaukee Bucks 95-89 at Golden 1 Center for their third straight win in the event.
For long stretches, Sacramento looked in control. The Kings held the upper hand through most of the first half and into the third quarter, then had to withstand a Bucks push that turned the finish into a much tighter game than it had looked earlier. In the end, Sacramento did enough to protect the home-court win.
Darius Acuff Jr. was the headliner again, but this time the performance felt cleaner and more under control. After opening the event with 25 points on 29 shots, Acuff played a more measured game against Milwaukee.
He finished with 22 points, hit 4 of 9 from beyond the arc, and buried a key isolation three that shut the door on any realistic Bucks comeback. He also added three assists, though that total could have climbed with a little more help from his teammates.
His work on the other end stood out, too. The Kings do not need him to become Jrue Holiday or Derrick White.
They just need him to be close to neutral defensively, and he looked capable of getting there sooner rather than later. It is still only his second summer league game, so the test changes when full-time NBA players are across from him, but he was solid on that side of the floor.
The best sequence of the night came on defense, when Acuff got caught as the low man, made the correct rotation to the rim, and then blocked Bucks seven-footer Jesse Edwards.
Marquel Sutton kept his strong start going as well. He led Sacramento with 24 points and knocked down 4 of 8 from three, a notable number after shooting just over 30% at LSU last season.
Sutton did a nice job working off the ball, spotting up in the corner, and finding open space. If he keeps producing like this, the Kings should seriously think about bringing him to camp for a closer look.
Sacramento’s offense, though, was messy for much of the night. That was especially true when neither Acuff nor Nique Clifford had the ball, and some of that can be traced to Adam Flagler, Jonathan Mogbo, and Emanuel Sharp sitting out.
Even with that context, the flow was rough. Dylan Cardwell had several tough offensive moments, including an easy miss at the rim and a handful of simple reads that slipped away when the ball was in his hands.
Cardwell was not the only one who struggled. Clifford finished with eight points on 3-for-9 shooting and missed all three of his threes.
He still affected the game in other ways, but this is the kind of setting where Sacramento would like to see him assert himself more offensively in his second year. Too often, he drifted out of the picture.
The bench unit had a hard time keeping things together. Isaiah Stevens was the one reserve who gave Sacramento some life offensively, but the rest of the second group could not get much going and did not offer much on defense either. Once Acuff, Cardwell, and Clifford went to the bench, Milwaukee chipped away and made the final minutes far more interesting.
Turnovers were another problem. Sacramento finished with 19 giveaways against just 16 assists, a shaky ratio even by summer league standards.
Acuff had four turnovers, Stevens had three, and Clifford and Cardwell added two apiece. Some of that came down to chemistry and spacing, which should improve as the group gets more practice time together, but it was still a rough watch at times.
After finishing undefeated in the California Classic, the Kings now move on to Las Vegas for Summer League at UNLV. They open there against Keaton Wagler and the LA Clippers on Thursday at 8:00 PM PST, with their full roster expected back in action. It will be another chance to see Acuff match up with a lottery guard.
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 🡒]