Darius Acuff Jr. didn’t exactly have the cleanest shooting night in his NBA Summer League debut, but the Kings rookie still found plenty of ways to tilt the game in Sacramento’s favor.
Acuff finished with 19 points, seven assists, two steals and a block as the Kings opened summer play with a 91-85 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The No. 7 pick in June’s NBA draft shot 6 of 20 from the field and 3 of 9 from deep, and he also turned it over four times - a line that left him sounding far more critical than celebratory afterward.
“Gotta be better,” Acuff, the No. 7 pick in June’s NBA draft, told ESPN after the game. “Playing terrible, too inefficient. Got to make more shots in a row and get my teammates involved more.”
He was just as blunt when asked how he planned to fix it.
“Just getting better, staying in the gym. Don’t get mad about one game.
Just keep going and I’m going to be better. I know that about myself, but more than anything we got the win.”
Even with the rough edges, Acuff’s second-quarter burst showed why Sacramento is so high on him. After a quiet opening period in which he scored three points on 1-of-5 shooting, he settled in and started stringing together the kind of possessions that make a rookie guard hard to contain. He knocked down a midrange jumper, buried a 3-pointer and finished through contact at the rim, all while flashing the passing that made him such a high draft pick in the first place.
The Kings took control from there. They led 44-41 at halftime and stretched the margin to 70-58 after three quarters before going ahead by as many as 16 in the fourth. The Clippers made one last push, ripping off a 10-0 run to get within six with four minutes left, but Emanuel Sharp answered with a big 3-pointer and then drew a three-shot foul to help Sacramento close it out.
Sharp led the Kings with 21 points off the bench. Dylan Cardwell added 15 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, while Nique Clifford scored 13 and Jonathan Mogbo chipped in 12.
Alex Karaban was cleared for his summer league debut after missing the California Classic with a right ankle sprain, but he went scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting in 24 minutes. Maxime Raynaud, who missed the California Classic while playing for the French national team, has joined the roster in Las Vegas, though the Kings rested him Thursday after he was added to the team.
For the Clippers, Cam Christie scored 15 points and Baba Miller added 12. Keaton Wagler, the fifth pick in the draft, was limited to seven points on 1-of-7 shooting.
The game was the second of two featured rookie matchups on the day. Earlier, the Washington Wizards beat the Utah Jazz 92-88 behind 27 points from No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa, who outdueled No. 2 pick Darryn Peterson, who finished with 24.
Sacramento gets a crack at Dybantsa next, with the Kings set to face the Wizards at 5 p.m. Sunday at Thomas & Mack Center.
Dybantsa was productive Thursday, though his 7-of-18 shooting and 0-for-5 mark from 3-point range left room for more. The Kings’ upcoming schedule also includes games against the Brooklyn Nets on 7/14 at 3 p.m. and the Boston Celtics on 7/15 at 5 p.m.
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Charles Barkley Just Delivered A Brutal Verdict On The Kings
Sacramentos rebuild is already looking like a long one, and the roster turnover tells the story. The Kings have moved on from the core that helped fuel their recent playoff run, with DeAaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes and DeMar DeRozan all gone or waived as the franchise resets after a 22-60 finish and a 14th-place showing in the Western Conference.
The hope now is that Darius Acuff Jr. becomes part of the next wave, but even that comes with the usual summer uncertainty. The 2026 first-round pick has flashed enough to keep attention on him, yet his Summer League play has been uneven, which only adds to the sense that Sacramento is still searching for a clear path back to relevance. [Read more 🡒]
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One Rookie Just Put Pistons Fans On Notice In Vegas
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One Sacramento rookie, the No. 45 pick, led the way with a game-high 21 points while adding defensive disruption and taking care of the ball, a useful sign for a player trying to carve out a role quickly. The Kings also had another summer league performance worth noting in a separate win over Orlando, where a different young player filled the box score with scoring, rebounding and rim protection, giving the front office a little more to track as the summer rolls on. [Read more 🡒]