It's no secret that the Sacramento Kings are leaning on rookie Darius Acuff Jr. incredibly hard. Against the Lakers, he hit a new high for minutes at 42. There has to be more to developing Acuff than running him for absurd minutes every night and hoping he gets better before he gets injured.
Trying to suss out where Acuff is currently at is a bit of a mixed bag. So far in 2026-2027, he's averaging 25.6 points and 7.0 assists per game. That puts him in the top spots for both points and assists among rookies this season, which is exactly where you want your new point guard to be.
But there's another side to those numbers. He's averaging 23.6 shots per game from the field to sink 9.4 of them. From the three-point arc, he's shooting 9.8 to get 3.0. Those aren't the best averages, but they will get better with time and experience. It's good that he has the confidence to shoot.
The more concerning benchmark is his minutes. In October, he was averaging 36.5 minutes per game. That is up to 39.5 minutes per game so far in November. Keep in mind that the high average for a top rookie in the NBA is generally around 35 minutes, which Acuff is well over at this point.
Sacramento is playing a risky game with Acuff
Since drafting him, the Kings have been clear that their developmental strategy for Acuff is quite simple. Sacramento is going to start him, play him a lot, and give him clearance to shoot at will. Letting him shoot isn't the problem. The excessive minutes are, and could lead to disaster.
In the Kings' most recent loss to the Lakers, Acuff played 42 minutes. He ultimately finished with 22 points, three rebounds, 12 assists, and two steals, which is a good night's work for a rookie point guard. It was his second double-double of the season that featured points and assists.
That 42 minutes is a bit of a red flag, though. It's the most he's played in one game this season, yet still not the only time he's cleared 40 minutes. This is a symptom of both the Kings' concerning development strategy as well as the fact that they don't have any serious backup for him at PG.
Acuff is a well-conditioned athlete, but even he can only take so much punishment. If the Kings don't scale his minutes back, they are increasing the chances of him getting injured drastically. And if that happens, they don't have anyone to pick up the slack at point guard. It's a dangerous situation.
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