Darius Acuff Jr. hasn't played a single NBA game and it already feels like the pressure of the league is on his back. At the very least, the success or failure of the Sacramento Kings' rebuild is being placed on him. The Kings need to be careful before they crush Acuff under the weight of their expectations.
While Sacramento has a lot of holes in their lineup that need patching, it's safe to say that point guard was their biggest weak spot. After the De'Aaron Fox trade, the Kings were left struggling to figure out their starting one. They finally settled on Russell Westbrook in the short-term and it worked well.
But it's hard to construct a rebuild around a guy who just finished his 18th season, even if he's one of the greatest point guards of all time. Being that the Kings had no salary cap to take into free agency, their only move was the draft. And they used their seventh overall pick to select Acuff.
He's a great choice. While Acuff needs work on defense, he remains a real shooter and floor general who can grow with the rebuild. At the same time, he's a 19-year-old with one year of college experience being asked to step up and lead a broken NBA franchise. Disaster is a real possibility.
The Kings need to be careful with Acuff and his development
In a recent conversation with Anthony Slater at ESPN, general manager Scott Perry made it clear that they are tossing Acuff in the deep end of the pool right off the bat. Sactown Sports’ Matt George and Kayla Anderson were in full support of that, believing a trial by fire is the only way to get him going.
Yes, Acuff is their best/only option for a starting point guard right now. But he's still a rookie who needs to get up to NBA speed. On top of that, he has no experienced point guard on the roster to mentor him. He doesn't really even have a legit, dedicated backup at the position.
For all intents and purposes, the Kings are demanding a miracle from a kid while offering no support. This mentality of throwing him to the wolves and seeing if he survives is not only bad for Acuff, it's bad for the rebuild. If this doesn't work out, the setback to the Kings will be enormous.
There are rumors that the Kings are trying to re-sign Westbrook and/or sign Victor Oladipo. That would would be great for Acuff as the Kings' current plan is apparently to let Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis mentor him. Yeah, that's honestly not going to help Acuff's defense at all.
Sacramento is putting the cart before the horse on this one
It bears repeating that Acuff is 19 and only spent one year in college before the draft. He's not Yaxel Lendeborg, the Warriors' breakout 23-year-old forward who put in six seasons in college and won a national championship before heading to the NBA.
Lendeborg is 100% ready for the big time, something he thoroughly proved in the 2026 NBA Summer League when he was named MVP. He is ready for the kind of pressure Golden State is going to put on him, particularly since he's likely to be at the center of the Warriors' impending rebuild.
Acuff is not as well-seasoned a player as Lendeborg. He will need more time to acclimate to the NBA, regardless of what the Kings think they need right now. Get Westbrook back as Acuff's backup and mentor, then give the kid two or three seasons to get his NBA legs under him.
There's no doubt that Acuff has what it takes to succeed and become a top tier point guard. He could easily thrive in the environment being created. But if the Kings mismanage his development as they have so many other players, then Acuff will become yet another Sacramento cautionary tale.
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