{"id":307736,"date":"2026-05-09T14:29:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T14:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/307736\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T14:29:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T14:29:29","slug":"kings-expected-to-pick-this-point-guard-if-they-stay-at-no-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/307736\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings expected to pick this point guard if they stay at No. 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday\u2019s NBA draft lottery could change everything, but many analysts seem to agree the Sacramento Kings will select Arkansas star Darius Acuff Jr. at No. 5 if they maintain their pre-lottery position.<\/p>\n

ESPN, USA Today, NBADraft.net, NBADraftRoom.com and CBSSports.com all have the Kings selecting Acuff with the fifth pick in their latest mock drafts.<\/p>\n

Acuff, 19, is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound point guard who averaged 23.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.4 assists while leading Arkansas to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. He was remarkably efficient, shooting 48.4% from the field, 44% from 3-point range and 80.9% at the free-throw line.<\/p>\n

Acuff was even better during the NCAA Tournament, averaging 29.3 points per game. He scored 36 points in a second-round win over High Point.<\/p>\n

\"Darius Darius Acuff Jr. (5) of the Arkansas Razorbacks dribbles the ball against the Arizona Wildcats during the first half in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at SAP Center on March 26, 2026 in San Jose. Ezra Shaw Getty Images <\/p>\n

NBADraft.net lists Acuff\u2019s NBA comparison as Tim Hardaway, noting that he has \u201ca sturdy build and nice length and strength for his position.\u201d<\/p>\n

NBADraftRoom.com offered the following assessment during Arkansas\u2019 NCAA Tournament run: \u201cAcuff Jr. is a baller, a winner and a big time shot-maker who plays with a ton of confidence. He\u2019s been sensational in league play and so far in the tournament and his draft stock is moving up. He\u2019s not the biggest guy and isn\u2019t a great defender but plays with toughness and is unstoppable on the offensive end.\u201d<\/p>\n

ESPN draft analyst Jeremy Woo provided a similar appraisal.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcitement around Acuff crested in March, with a torrid stretch elevating his draft status and positioning him for a potential leap into the top five,\u201d Woo wrote. \u201cOpinions around the NBA vary on where he stacks up amid a very talented guard class \u2014 there is curiosity around how he\u2019ll measure physically at the combine, but little doubt he has the chops to help run a team next season. There is an expectation that Acuff will need to be insulated defensively on a winning team, but he is a highly skilled and the most polished point guard in the class.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a critical draft for the Kings, considering the state of the current roster and the desperate need for a younger player to help transition into the next iteration of the team. Sacramento looks like a friendly landing spot for any of the top guards. Acuff would instantly help elevate their offense and establish a new identity for the team moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 2:53 PM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Jason Anderson<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Jason Anderson is The Sacramento Bee\u2019s Kings beat writer. He is a Sacramento native and a graduate of Fresno State, where he studied journalism and college basketball under the late Jerry Tarkanian.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sunday\u2019s NBA draft lottery could change everything, but many analysts seem to agree the Sacramento Kings will select…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-307736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307736","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=307736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}