Now that they officially have both a new General Manager and Head Coach in place, the Sacramento Kings have fully begun offseason and draft preparations, as the organization hosted six players for pre-draft workouts on Monday. Player scouting will continue over the next few weeks with more workouts, at pro days hosted by agencies, and of course the NBA Draft Combine.
With the Kings unlikely to retain their first-round draft pick, the front office and coaching staff will focus most of their evaluation and grading energy on players likely to be on the board for the Kings’ second-round pick (42nd overall). The team will no doubt hold out hope for the ping-pong balls to catapult the Kings into a top-4 draft slot, but the odds of seeing Cooper Flagg in a Kings uniform next season are quite slim.
Of the players hosted for the workout on Monday, the most notable was Texas Tech shooting guard/small forward Darrion Williams. The 22-year-old was born and raised in Sacramento, playing his freshman and sophomore seasons of high school basketball at Capital Christian before transferring to Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas for his senior season, his junior season having been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Williams won the Gatorade Player of the Year award in the state of Nevada his senior season, and originally committed to and played for the University of Nevada (Reno) Wolfpack after graduating from Bishop Gorman. Williams was named the 2023 Mountain West Freshman of the Year and entered the transfer portal after the season.
Williams then played the next two seasons at Texas Tech University, where he was named to the 2024 Big 12 All Newcomer Team and was honored as an All-Big 12 performer in both of his seasons in Lubbock. In this past season, Williams averaged 15.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 43.9% from the field and 34% from three point range.
Most projections have Williams being selected somewhere near the 40th pick in the draft, which places him squarely in the area where the Kings would be selecting. He may be testing the waters, as he has also entered the transfer portal once again and could potentially go back and play his remaining year of NCAA eligibility at another school.
After the workout, Williams was asked what it was like being in his hometown and participating in the pre-draft process. Williams had plenty to say about Sacramento and why it was special to him.
“It’s a dream come true. Obviously it’s my first workout, so having it be in my hometown…I grew up by the old Arco (Arena) and my mom used to work there, so I went to a lot of games. So it’s a surreal feeling, but it’s a blessing.”
On getting to put on the Kings jersey and play in Sacramento, Williams said, “I was nervous at first, but as I kind of got going I realized it was just basketball. But just being able to put the Kings’ jersey on has always been a dream of mine, so it was good.”
Where he gets selected in the draft - or whether he enters the NBA or returns to college - remains to be seen, but no matter the outcome, Darrion Williams got to live out a lifelong dream by playing basketball in his native Sacramento on Monday.
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