Sacramento Kings’ Darius Acuff Jr. Draws Big Concerns From Experts After Rough NBA Summer League

[ASFN Admin]

The Sacramento Kings earned a lot pf praise from pundits coming out of the 2026 NBA Draft class for a haul headlined by All-American point guard Darius Acuff Jr. As the NBA Summer League starts to wind down, the early reviews on the rookie guard haven’t been promising.

Coming out of the NBA Summer League, ESPN‘s Zach Kram released his initial 2026 NBA rookie rankings. Acuff, the seventh overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, sat in 11th behind the likes of guard Kingston Flemings (eighth overall pick), forward Morez Johnson Jr. (ninth overall pick) and guard Brayden Burries (10th overall pick).

“Acuff also checked off almost every negative box for a small guard. He didn’t assuage any concerns about his lackadaisical defense, especially off the ball. And his offensive efficiency was subpar in all but one game. Including his play in the California Classic, Acuff shot 35% from the field, 27% on 3-pointers and 70% on free throws this summer.”

ESPN’s Zach Kram on the performance of Sacramento Kings PG Darius Acuff Jr. in the NBA Summer League

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While Acuff received praise for his ability to be Sacramento’s lead on-court creator, including several “nifty passes”, there were far more negatives regarding his performance. Viewed as one of the best bucket-getters in the draft class, Acuff was one of the worst rookie shooters during the NBA Summer League.

Inefficient shooting wasn’t his only problem. He ranked 14th among all players in assists per game (5.3), all the while averaging an alarming 4.7 turnovers per game. For a prospect who many analysts viewed as being one of the worst defensive guards to enter the NBA in more than a decade, his playmaking ability in the Summer League didn’t make up for it.

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ESPN wasn’t the only outlet with plenty of concern regarding Acuff’s play in Las Vegas. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic praised the Kings for the pick, but Acuff didn’t even get a full section in the NBA Summer League scouting report, with Vecenie voicing his issues with the poor perimeter shooting and how scoring-centric Acuff’s play seemed to be.

“On one hand, Acuff got where he wanted to go out of ball screens. However, he missed a ton of 3s. The process was also far too geared toward scoring as opposed to passing, although that improved over his final three games. I’d bet that he averages 20 this year, but it might be inefficient.”

The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie on the Summer League performance by Darius Acuff Jr.

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Vecenie still seems to believe that Acuff can average 20 points and 5-plus assists per game in his rookie season, but it could come with some alarming efficiency numbers. While that’s not necessarily a major concern for Sacramento next season, given it’s rebuilding, prolonged ineffective shooting and high turnover rates from an undersized guard who is one of the worst defenders in the NBA could pose real long-term problems for the Kings’ team building.

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