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SACRAMENTO, CA ― The future looks bright for the Sacramento Kings.
Darius Acuff Jr. shined in his first summer league game at the California Classic, a 79-76 win against the Brooklyn Nets at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, on July 4.
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Acuff had a rough start to the game, going 1-for-8, but he continued to attack downhill. He finished the game going 9-for-29 and scored 25 points and four assists, including the game-winning assist to second-year guard Nique Clifford who knocked down a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left in the game.
“I wasn’t nervous,” Acuff told USA TODAY Sports. “I wouldn’t lie, I’ll tell you if I was nervous. But I actually wasn’t. I thought I was gonna be nervous. I actually wasn’t nervous, I was hyped to play. I got some great sleep. Woke up and a good breakfast. I thought the start I had wasn’t going to happen but you know it happens to the best of us. Nah. I wasn’t nervous. I was more excited to play with those guys, get on the court and play a game again, that was the best part, for sure.”
Something is cooking in Sacramento. It’s not just Acuff, it’s the entire 2026 class including Alex Karaban and Emanuel Sharp.
Although Karaban won’t play in the California Classic after suffering an ankle sprain during a July 2 practice, Sharp showed why he was one of the steals of the draft.
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With the No. 45 pick of the second round, the Kings picked Sharp, a 6-foot-3 guard out of Houston who was slept on. But not by Sacramento, who were searching for a two-way guard. They found him.
Sharp scored 11 points and recorded two steals and a block, as he helped to level the Kings who were down early in their summer league game against the Nets.
“I thought he was the guy who set the tone defensively,” Kings summer league coach Chris Darnell said. “His ability to take a team out of their offense, just with his ability to guard the ball. He’s in his gaps, he’s tough, he’s physical, he’s smart. He does everything you want as a coach on that end of the floor. He just makes winning plays.”
He added: “On the offensive end, we as a team didn’t shoot the ball well today, but he’s aggressive…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/sacramento-kings-reshape-rebuild-darius-055608201.html
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Publish date : 2026-07-05 05:56:00
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