Contrarian Corner: Scott Perry’s Draft Masterclass and Offseason Reshuffle

Welcome to Part Two of the Scott Perry Pre-Season Evaluation.

It’s time to turn our attention to our guy, Scott Perry—like him or not—and his first draft as the general manager of the Sacramento Kings. Before we dive in, though, I’d suggest checking out the last installment of the Contrarian Corner in this breakdown of the Schroder signing, if you haven’t already.

Now, let’s dive into what I believe was the single most important element of Scott Perry’s tenure as GM thus far: his vision and execution during the 2025 NBA Draft.

The Draft: Crafty Moves and Big Payoffs

Heading into the draft, the Kings didn’t have a first-round pick. Thanks to the 2022 Kevin Huerter trade, their protected pick was conveyed to the Atlanta Hawks as a top-12 selection in 2025. With no extra picks in hand, Perry and the front office had to get crafty. Enter the draft-night trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Kings sent the 2027 Spurs first-rounder (acquired in the De’Aaron Fox trade) to OKC. That pick is top-16 protected, meaning if the Spurs make the playoffs in 2027, it conveys as a late first-rounder. If not, it becomes two second-round picks. Essentially, it’s a low-risk move. In return, the Kings snagged the 24th pick in this year’s draft and selected Nique Clifford.

Nique Clifford, who, by all accounts, is a certified baller and shot caller. 

He’s a big-time scorer who averaged 19 points, 10 rebounds, and over 4 assists in his final college season. He also took on more ball-handling duties while maintaining his reputation as a 3-and-D asset. While he doesn’t have the ideal size (6’6”) to play at small forward or power forward, he’s versatile enough to play the 1, 2, or 3. He can handle the ball, create, spot up, cut, and defend at a high level.

Clifford’s Summer League performance was nothing short of breathtaking. He earned All-Summer League First Team honors with averages of 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal per game on 49% shooting from the field and a stellar 46% from three. He’s already received universal praise from outlets like ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The Ringer, and Rookie Wire. Heading into the draft, he was ranked 20th on ESPN’s Big Board, 17th by The Ringer, and 19th by Yahoo. This pick isn’t even a Contrarian Corner hot take—everyone’s high on Clifford, and for good reason.

The Kings also made a stellar second-round pick at 42, selecting Maxime Raynaud. This was great value, as he was ranked 15th by Yahoo, 28th by The Ringer, and 26th by ESPN. Raynaud averaged 20 points, 11 rebounds, and nearly 1.5 blocks per game at Stanford in his fourth year. He’s a vocal leader, methodical, and cerebral—everything you want in a future big. He also says all the right things, wants to sit under the Domantas Sabonis learning tree. 

Clearing the Decks: The Jonas Valančiūnas Trade

Now, let’s fire up the Contrarian Corner engine and take the ol’ ‘86 Bronco out of the garage. This summer, the Kings traded Jonas Valančiūnas straight up for Dario Šarić. The outrage from fans was immediate and intense. It reminded me of the time young Zack watched Homer Simpson serve as country music star Lurleen Lumpkin’s manager. She was clearly infatuated with Homer, and who could blame her? But when she made her move and planted a smooch on Homie, he shut it down—though not without a moment of brief contemplation.

Simpsons analogies aside, I needed time to process the JV trade. The Kings also signed Drew Eubanks, a guy who looks like he could teach middle school science. At first, it seemed like a head-scratcher. But then I thought about Raynaud. Perry is clearly clearing the decks to give him a real shot at earning minutes this season, potentially as the backup center, very soon. As the homies, Deuce and Mo pointed out in their day 3 training camp recap, both Eubanks and Maxi fit the up-tempo, high-octane style that Doug Christie and the coaching staff are emphasizing; JV not so much.

The Dario Šarić Experiment

Here’s where the Contrarian Corner alarms start blaring, and the McGruber meltdown sequence begins. Let’s talk about Dario Šarić. On the surface, it looks like the Kings dumped Jonas Valančiūnas—whom they traded two second-rounders for earlier this year—just to save $15 million. But what if Šarić can still play?

Not so long ago during his stint with the Golden State Warriors, he averaged 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in 17 minutes per game on solid shooting splits: 47% from the field and 38% from three. That performance earned him the taxpayer mid-level exception with Denver to begin with last season. Unfortunately, he barely got any opportunities with the Nuggets, a team plagued by well documented internal turmoil.

So, what do we think? Could Šarić thrive with a fresh start? Could he play spot minutes at the 4 and 5, stretch the floor, move the ball, and maybe bring back the nickname “Super Dario” – all while flopping his hair around dropping dimes? 

And if it works out, we’ll all look back and laugh at the McGruber-style panic alarms we set off when this trade first went down. Sometimes, you just have to trust the vision.

Final Thoughts

Between the draft moves, cost savings, and potential stylistic fit, Scott Perry’s offseason required vision and guts. Until next time, this has been Contrarian Corner.