{"id":174146,"date":"2026-02-11T23:33:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T23:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/174146\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T23:33:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T23:33:32","slug":"kings-maxime-raynaud-makes-big-jump-in-latest-nba-rookie-ladder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/174146\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings&#8217; Maxime Raynaud Makes Big Jump in Latest NBA Rookie Ladder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6a\">The Sacramento Kings&#8217; 2025-26 season has been overshadowed by their immense disappointment, showcasing a 12-43 record with one game left before the All-Star break. However, there have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/kings\/onsi\/sacramento-kings-news\/kings-rookies-still-a-much-needed-bright-spot-in-dark-season\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">bright spots<\/a> for the Kings, despite popular belief that everything is a living nightmare in Sacramento.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6d\">Arguably, the biggest bright spot for the Kings this season has been rookie center Maxime Raynaud, and the 42nd overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft is getting some league-wide recognition. While Raynaud was left out of the Rising Stars competition this weekend, he has made a huge jump on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/kia-rookie-ladder-feb-11-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NBA.com&#8217;s latest rookie ladder<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6g\">After being ranked as the eighth-best rookie in the last release, Raynaud has jumped into the top five of Wednesday&#8217;s rookie ladder. Raynaud is now slotted in the fifth spot, sitting only behind Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, VJ Edgecombe, and Derik Queen. <\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Fw17VJIaVA\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/Fw17VJIaVA<\/a>\u2019s latest Rookie Ladder:<\/p>\n<p>1. \u200bCooper Flagg<br \/>2. \u200bKon Knueppel<br \/>3. \u200bVJ Edgecombe<br \/>4. \u200bDerik Queen<br \/>5. \u200bMaxime Raynaud<br \/>6. \u200bCedric Coward<br \/>7. \u200bEgor D\u00ebmin<br \/>8. \u200bDylan Harper<br \/>9. \u200bAce Bailey<br \/>10. \u200bCaleb Love <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/v7q2Gkuffv\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/v7q2Gkuffv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Fullcourtpass\/status\/2021601533628919891?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">February 11, 2026<\/a>Raynaud ranked as the fifth-best rookie<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6p\">Raynaud is coming off an incredible performance, leading the Kings with 21 points and 19 rebounds in a blowout loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on 8-14 shooting from the field. The 7-foot-1 big man has been very impressive for the Kings this season, especially while three-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis deals with various injuries. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6s\">&#8220;Raynaud turned in his best Domantas Sabonis\u00a0impersonation yet\u00a0within the Kings\u2019 loss at New Orleans on Monday. The 22-year-old Frenchman ranks 11th among his Draft class in total points, third in rebounds and ninth in blocks, serious sleeper stuff for a guy chosen 42nd,&#8221; NBA.com&#8217;s Steve Aschburner wrote.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">21 PTS \ud83d\udc51 19 REB \ud83d\udc51 8\/14 FG<\/p>\n<p>What a night for the ROOKIE! Maxime Raynaud hauled down a career-high in rebounds during a near 20-20 effort for the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SacramentoKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@sacramentokings<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GLeagueAlum?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">#GLeagueAlum<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pSGrtWlMcZ\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/pSGrtWlMcZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBA G League (@nbagleague) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nbagleague\/status\/2021274872610160935?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">February 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6y\">It is also worth noting that Raynaud is one of just two players on this rookie ladder who were not a lottery pick, joined by Portland Trail Blazers guard Caleb Love in tenth, who went undrafted. The Kings undoubtedly got a second-round steal, and the 22-year-old French big man should continue to improve. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"71\">It is a shame that Raynaud will not be representing the Kings at All-Star weekend among the Rising Stars, because it is hard to say he does not deserve to be there, but he should at least be honored at the end of the season with an All-Rookie bid. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"74\">In fact, the Kings have two other rookies who are making strong cases for themselves as well. Nique Clifford and Dylan Cardwell certainly deserve their flowers, and all three rookies are cementing themselves as a very important part of Sacramento&#8217;s future plans. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"77\">In 29 starts this season, Raynaud has averaged 11.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 57.4% from the field. While Raynaud will not necessarily have a case in the Rookie of the Year race, he has exceeded expectations. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7a\">As the Kings already look toward the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/kings\/onsi\/sacramento-kings-news\/3-prospects-sacramento-kings-must-prioritize-in-2026-nba-draft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">2026 NBA Draft lottery<\/a>, Raynaud and the other rookies should continue to get extra opportunities down the stretch of the season. <\/p>\n<p>Recommended Articles<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sacramento Kings&#8217; 2025-26 season has been overshadowed by their immense disappointment, showcasing a 12-43 record with one&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174147,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":{"0":"post-174146","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-sacramento","9":"tag-sacramento-headlines","10":"tag-sacramento-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}