Sacramento Kings May Have Found Two Hidden Gems in the 2025 NBA Draft

Summer League is off to about as great a start as can be for the Sacramento Kings. Devin Carter may have had a rough game one, but he's bounced back in each of the last two games to put up strong performances. But maybe more importantly, early indications of both of the Kings' rookies are that they could be steals of the draft.

The Kings entered draft night with just the 42nd pick of the draft, after seeing their first-round pick head to the Atlanta Hawks to finalize the Kevin Huerter trade. That's a pretty bleak position to be in entering an NBA draft, especially one that everyone is saying is loaded with talent.

But with a great move, Scott Perry was able to trade a future protected first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder and snag Nique Clifford with the 24th pick of the night, and followed that up with the selection of Maxime Raynaud on night two of the draft.

What stood out immediately was that both of the Kings' selections were projected to go higher than where they were taken, with Clifford projected in the late teens, and Raynaud seen as a first-round pick by many.

And while we've only seen them in Summer League, both players already look like steals where they were selected.

Through three games, Clifford is averaging 18.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks on 60.6% shooting from the field and 70% shooting from three. He's shown a little bit of everything so far, from his scoring, to underrated passing, and strong defense as anticipated.

He not only fills a position of need for the Kings, but is the type of player that every NBA team is trying to get their hands on these days. And for the Kings to snag him at the 24th pick feels like a great value pick early on in the offseason.

For Raynaud, any time you can get a second-round pick that turns into a rotational player, that should count as a win. The 7-foot-1 center was known to have a skilled offensive game, but many questioned his defense and if could do enough on that end of the court to stay in a rotation.

Through his two games in Summer League, Raynaud showed his offensive firepower, averaging 16.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists on 53.8% from the field and 33.3% from three. While he only had four total assists, he showed better court vision than expected with some flashy passes in the exhibition games.