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Kings' Rookie Makes Domantas Sabonis Statement Before Summer League
© Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The Sacramento Kings are at a relative crossroads regarding which road to take during this offseason. On one hand, they're not quite good enough to contend for a top seed in a loaded Western Conference. On the other hand, their roster is too talented to warrant tanking.

The Kings made the playoffs in 2023, but failed to build on that success, which led to the firing of head coach Mike Brown. They also traded their face of the franchise guard, De'Aaron Fox, to the San Antonio Spurs as part of a three-team trade that landed them Zach LaVine.

Kings' rookie makes Domantas Sabonis statement before Summer League

The Kings went on to make the NBA Play-In Tournament as the No. 9 seed in the West, but fell to the Dallas Mavericks, ending their season. The Kings went into the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft with no first-round picks, but later traded up to take Nique Clifford after completing a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder to acquire the No. 24 pick.

In the second round, the Kings selected center Maxime Raynaud with the No. 42 pick out of Stanford. The French product was selected to the All-ACC First Team in his senior season after being named as the Pac-12 Most Improved Player and to the All-Pac-12 Second Team the year prior.

Following the official team introductory press conference, Raynaud spoke with reporter Matt George about playing with Domantas Sabonis.

"[Sabonis] has been one of the players I've been looking up to for the last couple of years to be honest. I know, at Stanford, we're watching a lot of actually Kings offense," Raynaud said. "It's awesome to learn from one of the best. 

"He's one of the best big men in the NBA and one of the best Europeans in the world. I'm super excited to learn from him and being able to follow his footsteps and potentially get some good minutes."

At 7-foot-1, 235 lbs, Raynaud averaged 20.2 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in his final season at Stanford. He's displayed the ability to play in the low post, but also is comfortable on the perimeter and putting the ball on the floor.

Raynaud is quite familiar with the Kings, as he once spent Christmas with a Stanford teammate and watched the Kings play. He's looking forward to learning from fellow European big man Domantas Sabonis. Raynaud will have the chance to display his talents for Kings fans when the team participates in the Las Vegas Summer League starting on July 10.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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