Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green said on The Draymond Green Show that Sacramento Kings rookie Darius Acuff Jr. is “starting to figure it out” and will be near the top of the rookie of the year race. Green said criticism of Acuff’s shot volume missed how much his shooting has improved.
“I know a lot of people was complaining about, ‘Oh, he’s taking this many shots. He’s doing that.’ And it just seems to me that he’s starting to figure it out,” Green said. “He’s playing really well. He’s shooting the ball a lot better. Obviously, it hasn’t equated to many wins for the Sacramento Kings, but that ain’t really on Darius Acuff.”
Darius Acuff Jr.’s Opening Weeks
Sacramento took Acuff seventh overall in June out of Arkansas, where he scored 49 points in a double-overtime game on Feb. 19, according to College Basketball Reference. The 19-year-old Detroit native led all rookies in preseason scoring at 17.3 points per game, per The Kings Herald. In his NBA debut, a 121-96 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 21, he scored 12 points on 5-of-24 shooting and missed all 7 of his 3-point attempts, according to NBC Sports Bay Area.
On Oct. 31 at Memphis, Acuff scored 38 points and made 9 of 14 3-point attempts, tying the NBA rookie record for 3-pointers in a game, according to Sports Illustrated. The game also made him the youngest player in Kings franchise history with back-to-back 30-point games, per Sports Illustrated. Sacramento lost 136-105 and started the season 0-6, according to Yardbarker.
Acuff led the 2026 draft class at 26.1 points per game as of Nov. 3, according to NBC Sports Bay Area. He scored 25 points, 19 of them in the second half, when the Kings beat the Dallas Mavericks 115-100 on Nov. 2 for their first win of the season, per The Kings Herald. Kings coach Doug Christie is the same coach Green criticized elsewhere on the show for his comments about Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“I told y’all, I think Acuff can be a special player in this league. He can really score that basketball,” Green said. “And I think he’s starting to figure it out.”
Yaxel Lendeborg, Cameron Boozer And AJ Dybantsa
Green named his own teammate, Yaxel Lendeborg, among the contenders. The Memphis Grizzlies drafted Cameron Boozer third overall, and Golden State beat Memphis 94-90 in the Summer League championship game in July, according to NBC Bay Area. The Washington Wizards took AJ Dybantsa first overall out of BYU, per NBC DFW.
“He’s definitely going to be right up there at the top of the rookie of the year race with Yaxel, with Cam Boozer,” Green said. “He’s going to be right up there in that race. AJ Dybantsa, since being healthy, has been playing well. Great rookie class.”
Dybantsa won the Julius Erving Award at BYU, per NBC DFW. In a Summer League meeting in July, Dybantsa scored 23 points on 6-of-15 shooting as the Wizards beat Acuff and the Kings, according to Sports Illustrated. Boozer, who played at Duke, scored 27 points against Acuff and the Kings on Oct. 31, according to Field Level Media. Lendeborg won a national championship at Michigan. After the Summer League final, Lendeborg said he thinks about revenge every time he plays Boozer, whose Duke team beat Michigan in college, per NBC Bay Area.
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