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Mar 17, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) and Sacramento Kings center Maxime Raynaud (42) shake hands after the game at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Raynaud Speaks On Relationship with Wembanyama, Career-Night

Originally posted on Sacramento Kings on SI
By Will Zimmerle | Last updated Mar 18, 2026 9:00 AM ET

After winning four of their last five games, the Sacramento Kings got back in the loss column with a blowout loss against the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs jumped out ahead and never looked back, taking down the Kings 132-104.

That's not the worst thing for Sacramento, as they've climbed to the fourth-worst record in the league in the last week, but it was a reminder that they aren't going to have DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook lead them to surprise victories every night for the rest of the season.

The player who really stood out tonight was Maxime Raynaud, who finished with a career-high 32 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists in the matchup against his fellow Frenchman, Victor Wembanyama. The two-time All-Star had a solid night himself, finishing with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. But he only needed to play 22 minutes with the Spurs cruising to victory.

But the two centers had a moment after the game, and Raynaud discussed their friendship following the contest.

"We're great friends, I've known him for awhile. Played against him in France, played with him in France, played with him on the international team and trained together. Our families are pretty close as well. He's just an amazing human being, someone that I hold dear to my heart, and at the same time an amazing professional and amazing basketball player that deserves all the respect in the world."

Excellent stuff from Maxime Raynaud on Victor Wembanyama, Russell Westbrook and scoring a career-high 32 points: pic.twitter.com/nbvyTnoa45
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) March 18, 2026

Career-Night for Raynaud

Wembanyama certainly is getting all the credit he deserves, and it was a heartwarming moment hearing Raynaud talk about his friend in such a kind way. Both Raynaud and Wembanyama are 22 years old, and it looks like this will be just the first battle of many between the two bigs. Raynaud went on to talk about how he gets up a little more against Wemby.

"I personally, when you play against one of your friends, you always want to trash talk a little bit and give the extra effort. But it kind of went my way today, individually. But I clearly have to find a way to impact the game a little bit more and help the team come out with a win, or at least a closer score.

Raynaud is cementing himself as a steal, if not the steal, of last year's draft. His in-season improvement this year has been extremely impressive, and he's going to force the Kings' hand regarding Domantas Sabonis this offseason if he keeps having nights like this.

What stood out was the five three-point attempts, of which he made two. That's a career-high in attempts for Raynaud, and is a huge factor in his future star potential. He was a higher-volume three-point shooter in college, but he's averaged less than an attempt this year with the Kings.

Raynaud has already improved so much this season, but he could spend these last 12 games working on his volume three-point shooting and see if he can take that leap into a stretch-big heading into his sophomore season.

This article first appeared on Sacramento Kings on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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