The Sacramento Kings announced this week that Domantas Sabonis will be out another four to five weeks as part of his rehabilitation for a partial meniscus tear in his left knee. With Drew Eubanks also out with an avulsion fracture of his left thumb, the front court for the Kings remains thin. But that provides an opportunity for rookie Maxime Raynaud, who is already proving to be ready for.
Raynaud is averaging 10 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1 assist, along with 0.5 blocks and 0.5 steals per game this season. But in December, he is averaging 15.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.7 blocks, and 0.7 steals in just 28 minutes per game. His potential was further highlighted Thursday with his 29 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals performance in the Kings’ overtime loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. He followed that up with 17 points and 11 rebounds against the Blazers Saturday. That floater around the rim is a key part of the offense right now.
Raynaud has improved as the season has gone on and plays with the type of energy and aggression you want out of young player. (Dylan Cardwell also had a nice game off the bench Saturday with 8 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 points.)
With Sabonis and Eubanks out, the opportunity has gotten larger. It will be nice to get Sabonis back on the floor eventually this season to see how he might play next to Raynaud, but as the tank rolls on this is the type of development opportunity you want to see.
Here are highlights from the two games against he Blazers.
He might be the lone bright spot this season. Who would have guessed the Kings 2nd round pick would be the only thing we can point to as a positive.
I say give him all the minutes he can handle. He definitely has a nice offensive repertoire around the rim, but I’d love to see some more outside touches and jumpers. Hopefully in time he becomes more physical on the boards and develops better rim protection.
Crazy to know that we needed injuries to happen before Maxime got an opportunity. Great personnel management and player development, Christie!
BTW, for Mark Jones:
The name “Maxime” has Latin origins, derived from the Latin name “Maximus,” meaning “greatest” or “largest.” The name carries the connotation of strength, power, and greatness.
Unless he was looking phenomenal in practice and preseason, I wouldn’t have played him either. This team’s goal is to win, a 2nd round center behind a borderline all-star center and a veteran isn’t going to get any playing time. That being said, I don’t think Christie is a very good coach and I’m glad Max is getting playing time. So far, this season is going about as good as it could be. I hope the FO doesn’t do something stupid and this team starts winning games. We need more playing time for the rookies and a top of the draft pick.
Well therein lies the problem. If this org thinks that this unbalanced roster with its plethora of ball hog senior citizens is designed to win, then the ship is really headed in the wrong direction. The goal from the beginning of the season should have been to develop the players that will be here long-term, not chase the last play-in spot with faded stars.
Raynaud was a 42nd pick and Jokic was 41 so maybe he will turnout only slightly below the career path of the Joker .
Love that Max chose #42 because that’s where he was picked and/or because it’s the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything.
Well done Max!
For those of you who haven’t watched any of this trainwreck this season, (1) I don’t blame you a bit, (2) do consider catching a game or two while Raynaud is getting this chance to play.
Watching a second round pick show this kind of growth this early is really special, and shouldn’t be missed.
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