Matt Johnson
Who will the Sacramento Kings draft tonight? Weeks of chatter ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft have all pointed to general manager Scott Perry using the seventh overall pick on a point guard. Ahead of Tuesday night’s first round, there’s new buzz on which direction Sacramento is expected to go.
In his final 2026 NBA mock draft, Sam Amick of The Athletic said that the floor for Arkansas point guard Darius Acuff Jr. in tonight’s draft is widely viewed as the seventh overall pick. It’s widely-known that he is the top point guard on Sacramento’s board and while they aren’t willing to trade up for him, he’s the prospect they want.
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There have been persistent NBA rumors for weeks pointing to Perry’s interest in Acuff—long before becoming a general manager, he was the men’s basketball coach at Eastern Kentucky from 1997-2000 when Darius Acuff Sr. starred at point guard for the program.
The biggest question has been whether or not Acuff will be available at the seventh pick. For the All-American point guard, his ceiling in the 2026 NBA Draft is believed to be the Los Angeles Clippers with the fifth overall pick. However, teams seem to be under the impression that the Clippers will take Keaton Wagler fifth, and that could leave the door wide open for Sacramento.
Previous reports indicated that both Los Angeles and the Brooklyn Nets (sixth overall pick) would try to get the Kings to trade up for Acuff. With that said, reporting from both national media and local reporters has firmly indicated that Sacramento isn’t willing to spend extra draft capital to move up.
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If Acuff makes it to the seventh overall selection, he would certainly be viewed as a risky gamble for Sacramento. While he’s highly regarded for his shot creation and playmaking, viewed as a player capable of averaging 24-plus points and 7-plus assists per game, he’s also by far the worst defender in the 2026 NBA Draft. At a time when small guards with severe defensive limitations, like Trae Young, have lost their value in the modern NBA, the Kings would be taking a calculated risk that Acuff can be more like Jalen Brunson than Young.
