With the 7th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, the Sacramento Kings selected Darius Acuff Jr., PG from Arkansas.
The Kings have been widely connected to Acuff throughout the draft process, but it wasn’t clear if he would last to them all the way at 7 with both the Los Angeles Clippers and Brooklyn Nets also showing interest but the Clippers went with Illinois guard Keaton Wagler and Brooklyn went with Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr.
Acuff Jr. joins the Kings after a very successful season at Arkansas where he average 23.5 points, 6.4 assists and shot 44% from three. He led the SEC in both scoring and assists and finished as a 1st Team All-American and was the SEC Player of the Year. Acuff joins a Kings team badly in need of a star and will likely be given the keys to franchise almost immediately. Acuff is widely considered one of the best offensive prospects in the draft, but also has serious question marks regarding his defense.
The Kings still have a lot of issues, but their biggest need was a true star, and Acuff Jr. in my mind was one of the best bets for the Kings to get that type of player and it’s a miracle that there was a player of his caliber available all the way at 7. For once, luck might have gone the Kings way. Of course, there’s no guarantees this pans out but for at least tonight and the near future, I have some hope for this team again.
Welcome to Sacramento, Darius Acuff Jr.! Barring a trade, the Kings are done for today but we’ll be sure to provide updates in case anything happens. They also have the #34 and #45 picks in tomorrow’s second round draft.
Welcome to Sacramento, the next HIM!
let’s f’n go!
welcome to Sac!
Move 2 of Monk, Domas and Lavine (assuming Deebo is cut) and this could be a successful off-season. Also assuming they don’t have to pay to move those guys.
Welcome to basketball Hell, youngling.
Now move off of LaVine because Kings now the the potential to be the worst defensive backcourt in the league next year.
Just like last year!
Welcome son, hopefully you can get out as quickly as possible.
Welcome to Sac Darius! Fix us please!
Hope it works out. Now get back into the 1st round!
I hate how they drag me back in! But man I’m excited about this pick. I honestly think even if we had been at number 5 or possibly even number four that this is the guy I would have wanted them to pick.
I thought there were reports in April/May saying the Kings would take him when everyone was thinking the Kings would have the 5th pick at worst.
Yes.
Was the coverage and interview of Acuff insanely short compared to the other dudes, or is it just me?
It was relative to his height ????
Yes, it seemed very short. My wife said it felt like they just weren’t a type of family that does not want to talk and share a lot.
An actual draft celebration thread?
I actually preferred Flemings. The vast array of experts over the last few weeks who said they would jump at a chance to get Acuff despite his known defensive limitations swayed my opinion.
You just got here, but the Kings are the Boston Celtics of the Summer League, so no pressure to deliver right away Acuff. Actually if he is good as they say he is, he should probably only be a part time Summer league participant at best.
Flemings next at 8
Morez Johnson, Jr to Mavs and Dusty May at 9
I also believe that Rez (Morez Johnson) would have been a super OKC addition, seems perfect for them even though they don’t need/want youth
Am I crazy for thinking his game might be too similar to DDRs except a smaller person? I’m struggling to believe his game contributes to winning. I know super hot take but the defensive/size side of things feels like he could just be another empty stats guy on a team full of them.
I think fingers crossed you got Damion Lillard 2.0, worst case he’s Gilbert Arenas 2.0.
Do either contribute to winning? Debatable.
Lillard was saddled with a Kings like roster for his entire prime in Portland and still dragged those teams far deeper into the playoffs than should have gotten.
Ya, Gilbert Arenas didn’t contribute to much winning. But he was also on a Wizard roster with a few other lesser versions of himself as running mates.
I think there is formula in the NBA for these types of guards. You need a 2nd scorer, 3nD guy and good amount of defensive minded players as a surrounding cast.
Lillard never had a Kings like roster in Portland
You are right. Portland never had a title contending roster. They had some talent but the pieces at times but didn’t always fit or had bad luck (part similar to Kings teams)
If you think Vivek and Perry have the cajones to build a defensive minded roster this season or next, i have a bridge to sell you, sir.
Who said this season?
I disagree. Acuff passes so much more and better than DDR. We might have something special in him. Few pieces away in my opinion
He’s nothing like DDR.
You hope he’s Deron Williams, Brunson, Dame, AI and not Monta Ellis, Kemba etc.
Exactly. Look at their three-point shooting percentages and assist percentages and right away you’ll see they are nothing alike.
Could be Dennis Smith Jr.
Yep, good potential bad comp.
I know there’s a lot of talk of getting rid of Domas, but him working with Acuff should be gorgeous basketball. Acuff has never had screens this big, and he’ll have one of the best rebounding bigs in the league which means he can shoot to his heart’s content. I don’t know why, but the dude just seems primed to become a star.
Now if we could get another defender like Keegan, holy hell. This could actually be something.
I was so negative on the guys last season because it was so annoying seeing this team finally taste success only to lose any kind of momentum. I’m actually back to giving a shit this year. Acuff, Welcome to Sac Buddy.
A Night,
If you can do it, work has a funny way of getting in the way, come to the LVSL. It is ugly, sloppy, great basketball all at one time. I share the enthusiasm. Darius can pass and set others up to be successful.
Amen on Domas and those two pairing up. I think it also applies to Maxime who is also good at setting picks.
Looking Forward to the 2nd round.
Yeahhhhh!!!!! Give me the guy who can score and handle the ball. The criticism about his defense is way overblown. If you a good enough athlete to score like him you can learn to play defense quickly.
Possible, but in no way inevitable.
LOL!
There are issues to clean up defensively. I think the criticism to the criticism is how many NBA point guards actually do stop the other PG from going by them?
Its only overblown because the Kings value defense the same way a fat kid values salad.
No pick in this year’s draft was going to address the team’s biggest need, which is to negate the effects of the dipshit owner. Not really excited by the pick, but that has more to do with the situation he’s walking into than his talent. I figure the team is still about 2 coaches and one GM away from sniffing the playoffs. They’re one owner away from sniffing NBA relevance.
The Kings had to take Acuff because of his passing ability. He can score and pass at a high level and the Kings haven’t had a backcourt player that can do both for a long time.
Acuff, Raynaud and Clifford are the building blocks for the future.
add Murray and Cardwell.
Well, the terrible lottery luck appears to have not mattered. I think the Kings probably take Acuff anywhere after #3 and probably over Peterson if AJ and Boozer were off the board in universe #712
I’m excited to see him play! Dude is a walking bucket. If he can learn to play even passable defense I think he can develop into a cornerstone piece.
We need elite talent and we drafted elite talent. We need a PG and we drafted arguably the best PG. After dropping to 7, I’ll absolutely take that. Like shooting, defense can improve with pro level coaching and the will to improve. Love the pick.
Yeah, I can’t get past those on this thread who can’t get past the Kings’ defensive issues. This is the start of the rebuild. DDR, LaVine, Sabonis….bunch of other dudes won’t be here in 2 years. If we are looking for offensive star power, Acuff is one of the best this draft. Next couple years are going to be about building around Acuff, not the current team as-is. I feel like those defensive issues should be addressed in the coming years.
I mean I get it. We need major defensive help. That doesn’t mean we should avoid the lead guard, offensive potential of Acuff. Also, whoever we draft at 7 isn’t going to fix the defense. It has to be a team wide commitment, of which he will now be apart of. We need help on offense AND defense, and just addressed offense in the most important way because we literally didn’t have a PG under contract.
Brazile at 34 would be amazing! Cmon man we need a break for the better as Kings fans!
Vecenie and Hollinger over at the Athletic gave the Kings a B grade for Acuff. They gave the Hawks an A for picking Flemings with the next pick.
The national media vendetta against us has continued all night
Vendetta? Naw, just indifference.
I can’t help but think that if the picks were reversed- King pick Kingston, Atlanta chooses Acuff
That the grades would stay the same.
(Kings: B, Hawks: A
This is how the grades analysis ended:
Draft “grades” are ridiculous. The Kings deserved a C at best.
It was an “A” pick imo. If they took Kingston it would have been an “A” pick as well. The obvious and smart pick was one of those two players and that’s exactly what they did.
Good. I wanted him or Flemings and no part of the unathletic non-popping Wagler (who can’t guard PG and is weak for SG) or the relatively unproven Brown
Not a fan of how we got to picking 7, but Acuff is a prospect worthy of a down season
Sabonis isnt going anywhere.. The one team tied to him (Charlotte) just drafted a nbadraft.net comparison to him
I like Sabonis, I feel he might be the best Kings player since 00’s teams. The Beam team fell apart around him, he wasn’t the cause for their downfall. The thought has been Perry doesn’t prefer him so he needs to go. I see a guy who can be a top 30-40 NBA player in this league for the next 3 years.
Wanted Flemings but Acuff should be fun to watch on offense. Let’s see what the FO is able to do to get back into the first.
Trade up for Carr or Koa
Trading both of the 2nd rounders from one of those guys would be a win. We need a win.
Next take Carr. It’s amazing how competent and well run they’ve become after decades of being Kangz East.
Would have been a major win
Yes please go get Carr. Surprised he hasn’t been selected already.
There goes Carr to the L**ers via NY.
The fucking Lakers
Ok. The rebuild got a big piece. Now… Can Doug turn him into a respectable defender?
It’s going to take more than just Doug to accomplish that.
Well, that should take us safely out of the Jah conversation for now. Might be a few years before we know if Acuff is going to be “HIM” but if that’s he who is, awesome. The guy who labeled “HIM” that didn’t play great defense, either, so I can see why he’d think that and it doesn’t mean you can’t build a winning team around such a player. Those PHI teams had 4 guys who were nothing but defense around AI, tho. And we’re a looooong way from that.
So at least we have an idea of the direction. I don’t know if its a good one, but its definitely a direction. What we do moving off of the LaVine and DaRozen money will determine if Scott Perry knows what he’s doing or not. I don’t think he does but I’d be surprised to see anything happen involving a trade for Domas to start the season, Max is a 3rd / 2nd stringer at best and no GM in the league would start him right now. I like him, was a great starting 5 for a lost season, but starting him right now means your team is going young or your starter got hurt for the season.
So welcome to the team, DA! The city and surrounding area is much improved of late. But the team itself? Its terrible. Its not you or your teammates fault (for the most part) so we’ll love you anyways. Especially if you play hard, do well and show us some love every now and again. And especially especially if you refuse to do the ‘shaka’ when the owner insists on photo opp’ing you every chance he gets with all the B list stars he’ll insist on introducing you to at half court of every home game. And hey, maybe 3 GMs from now (if you’re still here) the team will make a show of spending money and actually put it to good use for once and you’ll get to take a chance at the big dance. And when that happens, get your agent working on getting you outta here the following season. You’ll be missed.
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