The Sacramento Kings beat the Heat in Miami Saturday 127-111 and Zach LaVine scored 42 points. The larger story of the game, however, was rookie Maxime Raynaud starting and playing well, and fellow rookie Nique Clifford playing well off the bench.
Raynaud finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 assist in 25 minutes. He was a +12 on the night.
Raynaud is always active and engaged on the floor. He sets screens and rolls with a purpose. He is always ready for the dump off pass and positions himself well under the basket to score. He scan score off soft hooks, floaters, pump fakes, patience and footwork.
It was on display in Miami.
Not to mention his ability to rebound and block shots.
We saw Summer League Clifford also off the bench. He finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds in 18 minutes. He took the ball coast to coast, scored off turnaround fadeaways, hit threes, cuts to the basket, off rebound putbacks, through contact and floaters.
This aggressiveness from Clifford would be nice to see each game and less deferring.
These types of games from both rookies would be nice to see ongoing.
I love have active and engaged Maxi looks out there. It’s seems he is absorbing the game like a sponge and that knowledge is going to pay dividends down the road. Doug needs to keep focusing on getting Maxi and Nique minutes. The franchise will be better off long term if they do.
To be clear, I’m not saying the two rookies are going to be game changers, because that’s just an unknown at this point. But every team needs quality role players who can contribute when given minutes, and Maxi and Nique look like they could be those kinds of contributors.
When I look at a team like OKC I’m continually blow away with how many diamonds they have found and developed to help their core dominate they way they do. 11 of the 16 players who they have given minutes to this year are either 2nd round picks or undrafted. That’s absolutely incredible.
OKC 2nd round picks:
Isaiah Hartenstein
Ajay Mitchell
Aaron Wiggins
Isaiah Joe
Jaylin Williams
Brooks Barnhizer
OKC Undrafted:
Alex Caruso
Lu Dort
Kenrich Williams
Branden Carlson
Chris Youngblood
I was thinking the same thing watching OKC the other day because Ajay Mitchell and a lot of these guys become really important pieces even though they are drafted late first round, 2nd round, or undrafted. Major piece of what makes a good franchise is development.
Max and Nique are definitely worth some optimism, it’s fun watching young guys develop and I think they both could be quality pieces. The funny thing about Nique is that he’s the one guard/forward we have that actually makes sense to me in today’s NBA. The rest of our guards can’t play defense but Nique could develop into a solid player on both ends. Which I would way rather have than an overpriced player that can only score. Russ is fine really because he’s making the vet minimum and it’s good to have a few low-priced vets around but DDR, Lavine, Monk, and Schroder are useless on this team; highly overpaid, undersized, and not versatile.
Coaching as well as developing the talent you have. Have a GM that can provide the right pieces that fit the How To Win puzzle.
Move the OKC roster to Sacramento and I would be amazed, shocked and have my ghast flabbered if they were 23-1 with Doug Christie as Head Coach and current GM Scott Perry and the Vivek/Matina ownership running the show.
I actually think Monk and Lavine have roles on this team and in the modern NBA that could be very effective, this front office and coaching staff just refuses to do the right thing to make that happen.
For all the crap I give Perry, his two draft picks so far look like they might just work out. If Perry could be put in charge of scouting instead of being the GM, I think I’d be happy.
Clifford has game and is going to be really good.
But will he ever be the Big Dog?
He’s going to be a solid rotational player.Too early to tell if he’s going to be the Big Dog.
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