Considering how badly the Sacramento Kings' season has started, it can be easy to look at everything through a negative filter. Don't do that with Darius Acuff Jr. He's one of the top rookies in the league in various stats. Acuff is showing off the exact game the Kings were looking for from him.
No one was expecting much from the Kings this season, and they have certainly delivered. Sacramento has one of the worst records in the league at one win and six losses. They only recently picked up that first win against an unsuspecting Dallas Mavericks team that was caught off guard.
One of the biggest sources of success for the Kings this season has been Acuff. Scott Perry drafted him seventh overall in 2026 as their foundational point guard for the rebuild. That comes with a lot of pressure, which Acuff has been living up to. Again, he's only seven games into his NBA career.
He got off to a slow start, but picked up steam quickly. Now, Acuff is leading all rookies in the NBA when it comes to points per game, assists per game, and made three-pointers per game. That's the exact kind of performance the Kings needed. Now, they just have to continue his development.
Sacramento cannot botch Acuff's growth
While Acuff's rapid rise has been impressive, there's still a lot of work to do. That applies both to the rookie and to the roster the Kings need to build around him. For this rebuild to actually be effective, Sacramento cannot afford to mess up either process. They need to make smart choices.
A big one has to be finding Acuff a solid backup off the bench. He can't keep playing the kind of minutes the Kings are giving him all season long without something going wrong. The NBA has already been decimated by major injuries. Sacramento doesn't want to add Acuff to that list.
They also can't forget about the development of other rookies and sophomores. Guys like Nique Clifford and Alex Karaban are the players who will be on the court with Acuff as more veterans move on. They need to be working with him now to build up that chemistry for the future.
That's all long-term issues. Right now, Acuff is killing it. There's still work to do on consistency and efficiency as well as defense. But a lot of that will come with time, repetition, and experience. Honestly, it's impressive how quickly Acuff has found his NBA rhythm.
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