{"id":329846,"date":"2026-05-23T22:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T22:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/329846\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T22:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T22:59:10","slug":"nba-rumors-sacramento-kings-enamored-with-specific-draft-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/329846\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Rumors: Sacramento Kings &#8216;Enamored&#8217; with Specific Draft Target"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Sacramento Kings were one of the biggest losers in the NBA Draft lottery, sliding all the way to the seventh overall pick after a 22-win season. Fortunately for the club, it appears they may still have a shot at landing a prospect they love in the 2026 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n<p>According to Michael Scotto of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hoopshype.com\/story\/sports\/nba\/2026\/05\/23\/nba-intel-kyrie-irving-kawhi-leonard-nba-draft-lakers-76ers-hawks-bulls-blazers-pelicans-kings-jazz\/90230954007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"(opens in a new tab)\">HoopsHype<\/a>, the Kings front office is \u201cenamored with\u201d Arkansas Razorbacks point guard Darius Acuff Jr. and would love to land him with the seventh overall pick.<\/p>\n<p>Related:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sportsnaut.com\/nba\/sacramento-kings-rumors-mitchell-robinson-interest\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"(opens in a new tab)\">Sacramento Kings Linked to Big Man in Free Agency<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Darius Acuff stats (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/player\/_\/id\/5142620\/darius-acuff-jr\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"(opens in a new tab)\">ESPN<\/a>):\u00a023.5 PPG, 6.4 APG, 3.1 RPG, 48.4% FG, 2.5 3PM per game, 44% 3PT<\/p>\n<p>Familiarity certainly plays a part in this. Kings general manager Scott Perry coached at Eastern Kentucky (1997-2000) when Darius Acuff Sr. played there. Nearly three decades later, Sacramento\u2019s head decision-maker has a chance to add Acuff to his team.<\/p>\n<p>The pick would also address Sacramento\u2019s woes at point guard. While veteran Russell Westbrook played relatively well at that spot last season, the Kings haven\u2019t had a long-term plan at the lead guard spot since the De\u2019Aaron Fox trade with the San Antonio Spurs.<\/p>\n<p>Related:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sportsnaut.com\/nba\/nba-rumors-sacramento-kings-joel-embiid-trade\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"(opens in a new tab)\">Kings Linked to Bizarre Trade for Superstar<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Acuff, an All-American as a freshman, certainly elevated his stock in the months leading up to the 2026 NBA Draft. However, there are significant concerns regarding his ability to defend, with some viewing him as one of the worst defenders in the draft class.<\/p>\n<p>At a time when NBA teams have started to shy away from smaller guards who struggled defensively, Sacramento would be taking a gamble. With that said, Acuff\u2019s scoring prowess and playmaking ability may ultimately prove too enticing for Perry to pass on.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<img alt=\"avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_5578.jpeg\"  class=\"avatar avatar-70 photo\" height=\"70\" width=\"70\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\tMatt  Johnson  is  Senior  Editor  of  NFL  and  College  Football  for  Sportsnaut.  His  work,  including  weekly  NFL  and  college  &#8230; More about <a class=\"more-bio\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsnaut.com\/author\/wisconsinboymakesgoodincali\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Matt Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sacramento Kings were one of the biggest losers in the NBA Draft lottery, sliding all the way&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,128,122],"class_list":["post-329846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-kings","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329846","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=329846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}