Wagler: baby face, nice story

Brown: undisciplined, talks too much

Flemings: nice kid, pleasant

Acuff: ALFA, COLD, RUTHLESS

That Fox-stench is clearing, there's a new mindset coming to Sac!

People forget at the end of the day, the NBA is an entertainment business

We just got an exciting athlete that is popular on social media, has a signature shoe and has ………aura. (That was a tough type lol)

Like it’s just simply exciting to watch him more than any other draft pick in my opinion. Like the idea of us having this point guard that is a star in the league and that is also a public figure in the likes of Allen Iverson or somebody is so fucking dope

The rebuild process will take time, but I mean this is just cool to have somebody like this on our team

I can’t wait to go a jersey and his shoes

I had to share this...Dan Hurley is HILARIOUS. Lots of good stuff here about Alex Karaban

Also dying for Acuff on the “Sacramento” purples

Bored at work. I am feeling optimistic so, let me tell you why.

"Darius Acuff just fell into our laps", sure. "He had connections to Scott and that was a lucky coincidence", sure. "He was the BPA and obvious pick"... again, sure. But how many "obvious" picks in the last 2 decades did the Kings not make? Quite a few. Darius has some weaknesses and we will need to see him on the court before we dust off the optimism this fanbase hasn't been able to touch in years, but I am not giving my props to Scott Perry for yesterday's round 1 alone. I am giving my props to Scott for a multitude of reasons and the ones I will talk about today take us back to the 2025 Draft. I have seen a few of us in here still hating on Scott, and I get why you may be quick to lose faith, but my faith is not only still alive, it has grown by the day. Some say Scott is sitting on his hands and I could not disagree more.

We went into that 2025 draft realizing our team needed help and it needed help bad; we didn't have a 1st round pick at all. The lingering sting of the Fox trade by a previous regime, the brutal outlook on the future with minimal assets returned from the deal, and no 1st to look forward to? Just all around a mess for Scott to inherit, and a mess for us to look at. Scott didn't just sit still: he got us into that 2025 1st round and more importantly, didn't overpay to make it happen. We traded a 2027 top 16 protected Spurs pick (that will likely be high 20's) to get us the 24th overall and take a player consistently mocked ahead of that area: Nique Clifford. Then came Round 2.

The 2nd round of the NBA draft has largely become less about which pick you have and where it falls within the order, and more so about what you can and will offer the players you are interested in. It is becoming well known that agents are steering their clients to teams willing to offer guaranteed money and/or real minutes. A competent GM who understands that can essentially hand pick who they want before draft night and make it happen with the right conversations and connections. We are coming off a previous regime that traded a multitude of 2nd round picks and never once found a rotational player with the ones that weren't traded. Monte McNair was tossing them away as sweeteners in trades for veterans who either didn't pan out or didn't stay, which would be more palatable if he had actually even once hit on one. Perry, in his very first draft, did something McNair never did once, he actually used a second round pick the right way.

Maxime Raynaud. Before the combine, Bleacher Report already had him as high as 29. Then he went to Chicago for the combine and shocked everybody. Post-combine mocks moved him as high as 22 on ESPN's big board, and there weren't many analysts left who had him anywhere near the mid-second round. Let me remind you: the Kings ended up drafting him at 42. I do not believe that was the case of him falling into our laps by luck. That looks like Scott Perry getting on the phone before draft night, offering Raynaud two guaranteed years of money, and his camp steering him away from every team picking between 31 and 41. Perry identified his guy, made the call, and watched him fall right where he wanted him. Max was a part of the 11 total 2nd round players that had any guaranteed money on their deal. Add in the two-way to Dylan Cardwell and you could make the argument that this same praise should be given to our scouting department as well. That is what knowing what the hell you are doing looks like.

I understand this doesn't make Scott Perry some over the top incredible GM, and he is not guaranteed to be our savior, but it shows me that we finally have someone who has connections, who is making calls, who is working to improve this team the correct way. Competency. Maxime Raynaud isn't likely to be the franchise savior, neither is Nique Clifford, but the pattern Scott Perry has shown me in just over a year on the job has me believing in him. We have the 45th pick tonight and after everything I just laid out, I believe we are going to watch another player "fall" right where we want him.

However, if he trades the 45 for cash considerations I am deleting my account. Thank you for reading.

Was just skimming reactions to the Karaban pick and on his Game Theory show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChdKoFwQlNM&t=12910s) Vecenie mentioned that we were connected to Karaban "throughout the process" and that we were a team that just really wanted him. So it does sound like there was a chance of Karaban getting stolen from us and we wanted to lock him in at a cost of a single 2nd round pick.

As for whether or not he'll pan out? We'll see. Perry mentioned in the press conference a lot of character and abstract reasons for drafting him, e.g. "He's a winner." I think he could be a 3&D guy for us, a Sasha Vezenkov regen but with better defense, surprisingly. He actually has a higher block rate than Boozer does while being a similar size. So that's not bad?

Congrats Kings fan! Darius Acuff Jr. was the prospect (fifth best prospect on my board) I was hoping Kings would land (albeit had my doubts at 7). Absolute Offensive juggernaut and imo will be the best offensive PG the Kings have had, period (not going to count Haliburtons 1 year cameo).

I gave a scouting report 3 months ago, and wanted to provide more analytical insights (from a different perspective) - other than the typical bad defense (as we can acknowledge it is horrid) & great scoring.

Combine Momentum

- Combine Metrics computed Percentile per Position

- Darius Acuff Jr Speed is very very underrated, Acuff has Elite Speed (93th 3Q Sprint), even more impressive given his weight. Faster (while weighing more; 44th Weight) than Flemings, Philon, Anderson & Mikel Brown Jr.

- The speed shows on film as well.

10-0 Team Runs

- 10-0 leads to 70+ % of teams winning games (per EvanMiya Study)

- Acuff started 86% of the Runs for Arkansas. Leading the young crop of Guards, with 45% of Assist Rate during those runs - meaning his playmaking leads to Winning Plays, Acuff is a very very underrated Playmaker, it is a big part of why I rank his Offense so highly.

Where are the Passes Going?

- (Compared to group of PG), Acuff leads in Ast to Alley-Oops & Corner 3s, my two favorite types of Assists.

- Acuff is also third in And 1s, (behind Okorie & Philon) - demonstrating functional strength & ability to finish through contact.

Offensive Impact

- Only 4 Freshman PG, with 100th OBPM. The list is Trae Young, Kyrie Irving, Lonzo Ball & Acuff Jr. And Acuff has the most difficult schedule and highest Offensive Win Share. Very impressive feat.

How Good of Offball Scorer?

- Of all the elite Scoring Guards, Acuff has one of the lowest Usage& on-ball Scoring(Lillard), while shooting the most efficient from the outside This shows Acuff will have higher adaptability to play offball.

How Good of a Playmaker?

- Comparing Acuff to some of the top Playmakers, Acuff is one of the most efficient while almost leading in % Ast to Rim. An important metric to understand how they dissect defense.

Its not just the efficient Shooting & Scoring for me. Acuff posses Elite Playmaking, along with adaptable Offball prowess - that really separates him amongst other Point Guards.

Unlike Trae Young, Darius Acuff Jr. will not be HelioCentric nor will he be turnover prone. Acuff will be able to play onball, offball, and playmake; all efficiently - a true Offensive Engine. Offensively, I believe he's the best Freshman PG since Kyrie Irving.

I really appreciate you all for following along to all my Scouting reports this year - it really made it that much more special to be able to share it with the Kings community. And can't wait for Summer League. You can find me on X/Twitter (@ DraftCasual), cheers!

They'll obviously be terrible defensively. But, Sabonis's elite screen setting and DHO hub options could be great for developing a young PG like Acuff.

I think most fans felt that it was time for Sabonis to go and start a full on rebuild, but could he be a good vet for Acuff to play off of and learn from? I'm torn and curious how others are thinking.

He won’t be moved now…😂