The first preseason look at the Kings comes with plenty of eyes trained on two very different storylines: the debut of rookie guard Darius Acuff Jr. and the return of Ben Simmons.
Sacramento opens against the Lakers on Monday at Golden 1 Center, and Acuff arrives with real buzz after going No. 7 overall out of Arkansas in June’s NBA draft. He’s already being talked about as the face of the franchise, which tells you how quickly expectations have attached themselves to the rookie.
Simmons, meanwhile, is trying to reboot a career that was put on pause last season while he recovered from a debilitating back injury. For the Kings, his fit could be just as important as his name recognition. When Acuff is off the floor, Simmons is likely to handle the ball, and there’s also a path to using him as a point forward.
That flexibility matters because Sacramento has more size, length and depth than it did a year ago, and the rotation battles could be fierce. There are logjams all over the roster, especially at the guard spots, where Simmons, Malik Monk, Nique Clifford, Daeqwon Plowden, Emmanuel Sharp and Elfrid Payton are all chasing minutes. Behind Domantas Sabonis, the center competition includes Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell.
Raynaud’s case is already on the record. He started 56 games last season with Sabonis out because of injuries, and he earned All-Rookie honors.
Cardwell, meanwhile, moved from a two-way deal to a standard NBA contract after carving out a reputation as a defensive presence. Christie has praised that impact, saying he “impacts winning.”
The starting group hasn’t been announced, but Acuff, Zach LaVine, De’Andre Hunter, Keegan Murray and Sabonis have been widely projected as the five. That would give Sacramento a very different look from the team that stumbled to a 22-60 record last season, with LaVine, Murray and Sabonis all missing much of that campaign because of injuries.
There’s also no shortage of motivation. LaVine is in the final year of his five-year, $215.2 million contract, and Sabonis continues to surface in trade rumors. Both enter the preseason with plenty to prove.
The Kings’ exhibition schedule runs five games in all. After Monday’s opener, they’ll face the Lakers again Thursday at Crypto.com Arena, visit the Warriors on Saturday, host the Trail Blazers on Oct. 13 and wrap things up on the road against the Spurs on Oct. 16.
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For Sacramento, that matters because Hunter brings exactly the kind of two-way flexibility the roster can use, especially on a team trying to get more versatile on defense without sacrificing scoring support. He spoke about that defensive versatility himself, and with an expiring contract in hand, he has a chance to make a strong early case that he can be more than a name in the middle of a trade package. [Read more 🡒]