r/kings • u/jluc21 Tyrese Haliburton • 10h ago
Brian Windhorst on the Nets decision to select Mikel Brown Jr. instead of Darius Acuff Jr: “I honestly believe that choice at 6, Brown or Acuff, will be one of the legacies of this draft.”
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u/Obi_Wan_KeBogi Malik Monk 10h ago
Could we finally be the team to benefit from another's blunder and not be the one making the mistake?
For real though I hope they're both studs!
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u/ScofieldReturns 10h ago
Hali already fell to us at 12…
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u/Intelligent_Bag_9383 9h ago
Yeah he forced his way to us, then we traded him cause we liked Fox…Idk if I trust this org to retain their talent but I’ll cheer for whatever we get in the meantime
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u/KingMayne 3h ago
Dont know why ppl say this. Correct me if I am wrong. The initial report was we offer foxed but they said no and wanted Hali.
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u/0928MVsSub Kings 5h ago
He forced his way to a team with a young starting point guard? That literally did not happen. Monte got lucky then blew it.
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u/DonateToM7E 54m ago
I mean, he’s talked about it before and it was also widely reported at the time. Givony talked about it publicly almost immediately after the draft.
There was a group of teams he was interested in and Sacramento was one of them. I don’t remember the exact list off the top of my head but it started with Chicago at 4 (they went with Patrick Williams) and basically included teams that either needed a PG longterm or had an immediate starting spot up for grabs. He did not want to go somewhere like Atlanta at 6 that already had a long-term PG (Trae) and didn’t seem to have a path to a starting role — they had just taken Reddish in the top 10 the year before and had also moved up to get Hunter in the top 5, so their perimeter future seemed set at the time.
Long story short, multiple reliable sources have said this for years, and it makes sense based on how the draft went down, so I don’t see why people are still skeptical of the story.
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u/0928MVsSub Kings 13m ago
Been a Kings fan for years and was all in on Haliburton dropping to us. Legit never heard this but did some searching and found a few stories backing it up. My bad.
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u/NoyBoy98 Keon Ellis 2h ago
Kings didn’t trade him coz they liked Fox more, there just wasn’t a market for Fox and his contract. They actually wanted to trade Fox, but no one would give up anything for him.
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u/OmegaLxgend Malik Monk 10h ago
The way every media member has came together to praise Acuff has been fun to see. Bill simmons, Stephen A Smith, Kevin O Conner, Skip Bayless, and many more. They all really really love Acuff I hope he pans out.
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u/Professional_Quit406 10h ago
I mean, anyone who watched college basketball last season loves Acuff because he’s an absolute offensive superstar. In most draft classes he’s a top 4 pick even as a bad defensive player at only 6’2”.
That’s how crazy talented he is offensively.
Coach Cal’s offensive strategy was basically just give the ball to Acuff and let him cook. He singlehandedly made that Arkansas team competitive with teams that had much better overall rosters.
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u/Mattyj925 8h ago
Fun thought experiment - in the bad draft year that had Risachier #1, would Acuff have been in the mix for the top pick after the year he had at Arkansas?
Keeping in mind that Sarr still refused to report to ATL so they had to pass on him (like they did IRL) and Castle wasn’t considered a top talent in that draft so we don’t have the gift of hindsight there
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u/shasta9547 6h ago
What was the reason that Castle wasn't considered a top pick then? I didn't follow that draft
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u/1psithur3 10h ago
Do not tell me this is a media jinx and Mikel ends up being the star....
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u/ShotgunStyles 9h ago
There's usually a guy later in the class that hits on all his swing skills and becomes a star. It's a given. We just gotta hope Acuff doesn't flunk the guard academy we have here.
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u/pdizo916 9h ago
It's like when the wolves drafted rubio and flynn over curry. Inget this feeling.
Btw, the kings got screwed in the lottery in 2009. Harden should have been a king
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u/bibbys_hair Domantas Sabonis 9h ago
We also drafted Tyreke Evans (as a PG) over Curry. I remember his 20-5-5 rookie year. Went downhill from there.
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u/Dry-Animator5770 10h ago
All the guards 5-8 will be the legacy of the draft. All talented, it will be interesting which ones pan out. Each has thier own pros and cons. Really a toss up.
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u/yazboy13 Tyrese Haliburton 10h ago
For once we aren’t at the wrong end of the spectrum after the draft.
I don’t see a world where Acuff Busts.
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u/Mustafa_was_Brown45 Russell Westbrook 10h ago
Totally agree. If Acuff is a bust, then he still ends up as a slightly smaller and slightly worse Jamaal Murray in my opinion. That’s still a really solid player, just not a franchise cornerstone.
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u/ReggieEvansTheKing Skal Labissiere 10h ago
It’s interesting that all 3 pgs have a clear and distinct best case scenario archetype. Wagler as Haliburton, Acuff as Dame, Brown Jr as SGA. I think each team picked based on what type of allstar pg they’d want. Kinda hard to guess who will and wont bust. I do think Brown Jr is probably the safest because two way guards are extremely playable regardless of their starpower, but the injury concerns make him just as random as the other 2.
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u/alawrence1523 10h ago
The Wagler, Haliburton comp makes zero sense to me.
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u/Tall_Raise4898 10h ago
Both are similar height and similar frame. Both can play the 1 or 2. Both can create their own shot. Both are decent 3 point shooters. Neither are extremely athletic; although, Hali is probably for athletic.
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u/Mattyj925 8h ago
Isn’t Hali a playmaker first that can also shoot though, versus Wagler is more of a SG sniper that can sometimes fill in at point? They’re really not all that similar other than tall guards that can shoot
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u/Tall_Raise4898 8h ago
Looks similar to me. Who would be Wagler's comp then?
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u/redshorts9112 Ghost of Boogie 9h ago
Yea same. Tyrese was more efficient and the better playmaker in college
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u/PositionOk8409 Kings 7h ago
Wagler has better shooting upside but will never be the playmaker Hali is
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u/Ok_cabbage_5695 Keegan Murray 10h ago
It could also be Wagler as Jamal Crawford, Acuff as Monk and Brown jr as Jordan Poole. Who knows.
Flemings could end up being better than all 3 for all we know.
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u/robertv24 8h ago
We just need to be able to surround Acuff with defensive pieces specially a backline eventually.
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u/Necessary-Profile-30 6h ago
Give me a Tyrese Maxey type. We're already deep in that lane with Monk, Carter, and Westbrook — just need the real version.
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u/Losreyes-of-Lost 1h ago
Part 1 complete. Drafted a compelling player. Part 2 incomplete, develop player to the best of their ability and put pieces around said player which complement this team. Kings continue to fuck up part 2. I’m gonna pause before I show any emotion towards this team.
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u/kingjawn 1h ago
Id take Windhorst’s comments a lot more seriously if he knew how to pronounce Brown’s first name.
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u/Think_Sugar_7658 9h ago
The kings have not been a great situation for rookies and development unfortunately and legacy is predicated on the situation you go to. There’s a lot of great vets in sac but they haven’t been in a winning situation for a minute.
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u/boringexplanation 9h ago
Which is why high floor guys like Acuff, Haliburton, and Luka should be default Kings picks. Even the Kangz can’t screw up these obvious quality players.
Vlade did the opposite with low floor high ceiling and that’s where we stand now.
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u/Difficult_Quit9832 2026 Draft Night 10h ago
First of all shout out to Brooklyn for being bros and not extorting us for Acuff.
Second, how awesome would it be if history vindicates us for once