Sources: Kings held private workout with top NBA draft prospect in Sacramento
The Sacramento Kings have brought in dozens of NBA prospects for pre-draft workouts in recent weeks. Most of those workouts were announced ahead of time and most of those prospects were made available to the media, but one player came in under the radar.
League sources told The Sacramento Bee on Monday that the Kings brought Arkansas star Darius Acuff Jr. to Sacramento last week for a private individual workout.
Many draft analysts and NBA talent evaluators view Acuff as the best pure point guard in this year’s draft. The Kings will strongly consider Acuff if he is available when they make their first-round pick at No. 7, but some are predicting he will go to the Los Angeles Clippers at No. 5 or the Brooklyn Nets at No. 6.
Acuff, a 19-year-old native of Detroit, is 6-foot-3 and 186 pounds with a 6-7 wingspan. He has drawn comparisons to Stephon Marbury, Coby White and Damian Lillard. Kings general manager Scott Perry coached Acuff’s father at Eastern Kentucky.
Acuff averaged 23.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.4 assists in his only season at Arkansas to help coach John Calipari’s Razorbacks reach the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. He shot 48.4% from the field, 44.3% from 3-point range and 80.9% at the free-throw line.
Calipari’s programs have produced an impressive line of NBA guards over the past 20 years, including Derrick Rose, John Wall, Tyreke Evans, Jamal Murray, Devin Booker, De’Aaron Fox, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyler Herro and Tyrese Maxey. Acuff averaged more points than any of them, and only Wall averaged more assists (6.5).
ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins had high praise for Acuff on “First Take” back in February, saying: “He is the best guard that John Calipari has coached. I’m not talking about NBA career — college career. ... I would actually take Darius Acuff Jr. with the No. 1pick. He is Steph Marbury times two with a Derrick Rose mentality as far as his demeanor. He is a bona fide killer.”
