In a dark and dismal season, one of the few bright spots for the Sacramento Kings has been the rapid development of Maxime Raynaud. He continues to impress his teammates, coaches, and fans with his confidence and professionalism on the court. It should put him front and center for the rebuild.
Coming out of preseason play, all the rookie talk on the Kings was about Nique Clifford, which made sense at the time. He had an incredible preseason. Other rookies like Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell were on radars, but Nique was stealing the show. What a difference a few months make.
While he got off to a slow start, as one would expect from most rookies finding their feet in the majors, Raynaud is already picking up serious momentum. Two games ago, he set a career record of 19 points against the Jazz. He’s already beaten that with 25 points against the Rockets last night.
On top of that, he’s cleaning the glass nicely and playing well on defense. When the matchup with the Rockets was complete, he had six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block to go with his new personal best. That’s not what makes him so compelling, though.
Raynaud is growing up on the Kings fast
In Sacramento’s previous game against the Grizzlies, Raynaud fouled out. That’s not uncommon for rookie centers still learning the NBA ecosystem. Between that game and the faceoff with the Rockets, Maxime made some adjustments and committed zero fouls against Houston.
That kind of maturity and willingness to be coached cannot be taught. Players like Ja Morant and LaMelo Ball have been in the league for several seasons, and their respective games haven’t changed since college. Maxime has shown more growth in six weeks than they have in years.
As part of rebuild talk, the no-trade list has appeared to mostly be Keegan Murray and Nique Clifford. Those are solid choices, but Maxime Raynaud absolutely has to be on that list. In the absence of Domantas Sabonis, he has risen to the challenge and proven he can be a real option at center.
Other teams in need of a solid, young five are going to call about Raynaud. There’s no question of that. Sacramento needs to remain strong and not trade him. Finding a good center who can produce on offense and hustle back with impactful defense is a rarity. Don’t waste this opportunity.