Matt Johnson
The Sacramento Kings didn’t have lottery luck on their side at the start of the offseason, resulting in the team landing the seventh overall pick. Despite picking outside the top five in a top-heavy class, Sacramento is earning praise for its 2026 NBA Draft class.
ESPN‘s Ben Golliver gave Sacramento a B-plus for its draft haul of point guard Darius Acuff Jr (seventh overall pick), wing Alex Karaban (29th overall pick) and guard Emanuel Sharp. While he did express skepticism of Acuff’s ability to develop into a lead player on a championship-caliber team, he still likes the fit for the Kings.
“That’s OK for Sacramento, which has more immediate concerns: erasing the bad memories of a dreadful 2025-26 season, plus installing a new point guard of the future after trading Tyrese Haliburton and De’Aaron Fox. Acuff got straight to work at Arkansas, where he led the SEC in scoring and assists as a freshman, and Sacramento should give him the green light from day one. Meanwhile, 23-year-old Karaban, who won two NCAA titles at UConn, projects as a classic 3-and-D role player.”
ESPN’s Ben Golliver on the Sacramento Kings draft class in the 2026 NBA Draft
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Concerns regarding Acuff’s size are legitimate and he was widely regarded as the worst defender in the 2026 NBA Draft class. In the modern NBA, teams are increasingly hesitant about smaller guards who are attacked defensively, even if they offer premium upside offensively. However, New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson is a recent example of how it can work out with the right supporting cast built around the point guard.
That leads us to the other Kings draft picks and praise general manager Scott Perry is receiving for both the haul and how he used his assets to move up. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic rated Sacramento as having the second-favorite 2026 NBA Draft class. He noted both the importance of Acuff wanting to play for the Kings and how Perry found quality role players to build around the new franchise point guard.
“This is my second-favorite draft. First and foremost, we can’t overemphasize that an awesome player preferred to go to the Kings over other landing spots and ended up there. I had Acuff as my fifth-ranked player and think he’ll turn into a terrific lead guard with All-Star upside. This is a home run for the Kings. Sacramento needs players who do the little things after a little mini-era of signing those who didn’t always help in that respect. Both Karaban and Sharp should play real minutes for stretches this year on what figures to be a bad team. The Kings entered the draft with picks Nos. 7, 34 and 45 and exited with my Nos. 5, 33 and 34 players. Great work from general manager Scott Perry.”
The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie on the Sacramento Kings draft class
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In Sharpe and Karaban, Sacramento landed two of the winningest players in college basketball. They both offer NBA-ready skill sets that should allow them to see the floor right away. Both are also well-suited to be role players and are comfortable operating as helpers defensively and playing within the structure of the offense.
The Kings are still projected to be one of the worst NBA teams next season, but they’ve slowly started to build a roster of young talent who offer hope for the future. Acuff is now the centerpiece of the team’s future, and he could challenge for Rookie of the Year honors with the top picks.
