{"id":332490,"date":"2026-05-26T05:22:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T05:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/332490\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T05:22:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T05:22:28","slug":"should-the-sacramento-kings-draft-darius-acuff-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/332490\/","title":{"rendered":"Should the Sacramento Kings draft Darius Acuff Jr.?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Sacramento Kings have been linked to one player more than any other as anticipation builds for the NBA draft.<\/p>\n

All together now: Darius Acuff Jr.<\/p>\n

HoopsHype\u2019s Michael Scott joined the chorus over the weekend, reporting that the Kings are \u201cenamored\u201d with the 19-year-old Arkansas point guard. And yes, indeed, there\u2019s a lot to like about Acuff as the Kings prepare to choose a player with the No. 7 pick in one of the most ballyhooed drafts in NBA history.<\/p>\n

AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson are widely projected to be the top four picks in the draft. That would leave the Los Angeles Clippers, Brooklyn Nets and Kings to choose from an impressive group of guards that features Acuff, Keaton Wagler, Kingston Flemings, Brayden Burries and Mikel Brown Jr.<\/p>\n

If Acuff is available at No. 7, the decision might come down to offense vs. defense for a Kings team that was good at neither while going 22-60 to tie the tanking Utah Jazz for the fourth-worst record in the NBA this season. Offensively, Acuff looks like a special player with more superstar potential than the other players in this range, but defensively there is cause for concern.<\/p>\n

Acuff averaged 23.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.4 assists in his only season at Arkansas to help coach John Calipari\u2019s Razorbacks reach the NCAA Tournament\u2019s Sweet 16. He shot 48.4% from the field, 44.3% from 3-point range and 80.9% at the free-throw line.<\/p>\n

Acuff was named Southeastern Conference Rookie of the Year, SEC Player of the Year and SEC tournament MVP. He was a consensus first-team All-American and the winner of the Bob Cousy Award, which is presented to the nation\u2019s top point guard.<\/p>\n

\"Darius Darius Acuff Jr. (5) of the Arkansas Razorbacks hoists the Most Valuable Player trophy after defeating the Vanderbilt Commodores 86-75 in the 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship game at Bridgestone Arena on March 15, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. Johnnie Izquierdo Getty Images <\/p>\n

Calipari\u2019s programs have produced an impressive line of NBA guards over the past 20 years, including Derrick Rose, John Wall, Tyreke Evans, Jamal Murray, Devin Booker, De\u2019Aaron Fox, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyler Herro and Tyrese Maxey. Acuff averaged more points than any of them, and only Wall averaged more assists (6.5).<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Kendrick Perkins had high praise for Acuff on \u201cFirst Take\u201d back in February, saying: \u201cHe is the best guard that John Calipari has coached. I\u2019m not talking about NBA career \u2014 college career. … I would actually take Darius Acuff Jr. with the No. 1pick. He is Steph Marbury times two with a Derrick Rose mentality as far as his demeanor. He is a bona fide killer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kings general manager Scott Perry is well acquainted with the Acuff family after coaching his father at Eastern Kentucky years ago. Acuff started his high school career at Cass Tech in Detroit, 10 miles from the school where Perry became an all-state selection in 1981. Acuff finished his prep career at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, less than two hours from Perry\u2019s offseason home in the Orlando area.<\/p>\n

\"Darius Darius Acuff Jr. (5) of the Arkansas Razorbacks lays up against Harry Rouhliadeff (14) of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors during the first half in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Moda Center on March 19, 2026 in Portland, Oregon. Soobum Im Getty Images <\/p>\n

Perry knows Acuff\u2019s name, his game and his character. The question Perry must ask himself is whether Acuff can be good enough defensively to help the Kings bring winning basketball back to Sacramento.<\/p>\n

Acuff addressed concerns about his defense when asked about the criticism at the NBA combine.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest with you, I don\u2019t really care,\u201d Acuff said. \u201cPeople are always going to have an opinion no matter what, so I just kind of state how I feel about the game. If people got an opinion, that\u2019s their opinion of me. I don\u2019t really got nothing to say to it. I know I want to play defense, so I don\u2019t really respond to it. I do feel like I need to pick up my defense, so I\u2019m gonna do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acuff is a bit undersized after being measured at 6-foot-2 without shoes at the NBA combine, but nobody plays without shoes and he has an impressive 6-6 \u00bd wingspan. That bodes well for his ability to become a serviceable defender in the NBA even if the video footage from his freshman season was somewhat alarming.<\/p>\n

There are high-ranking officials in the Kings organization who are not concerned about Acuff\u2019s defense. If they are convinced he can defend well enough to contribute to winning basketball, they should draft him. If not, they should strongly consider Wagler, Flemings, Burries or Brown.<\/p>\n

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


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

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Jason Anderson has been the Sacramento Kings beat writer for The Sacramento Bee since 2018. He is a Sacramento native who is proud to provide coverage that is as passionate and dedicated as the loyal Kings fan base.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sacramento Kings have been linked to one player more than any other as anticipation builds for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-332490","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\/332490","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=332490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}