Kings’ Rookie Was a Top Second-Round Value

The league’s top draft picks are sure to earn most of the acclaim, and rightfully so with players such as Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Kon Knueppel and more out to fiery NBA starts.

Still, the NBA Draft is about more than hitting at the top. While getting value in the first round is important, doing so in the second is what can really compound talent for squads.

At the 2025 NBA Draft, the Sacramento Kings got one of the best value players in the second round in Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud, who is putting together a solid rookie season.

A four-year player with the Cardinal, the 7-foot-1 saw massive improvement over the course of his college career, starting out averaging just 4.5 points, before eventually becoming one of the top scorer’s in the nation his last year. He rapidly became a great shooter from beyond the arc, finally scoring 20.2 points per game, shooting 35% on 5.5 3-point attempts per game.

Even more, he averaged 10.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks, pointing to the potential for more traditional success as well.

Now, the No. 42 pick is doing plenty of the same things for the Kings.

Saturday’s bout against the Mavericks portrayed just that, as Raynaud scored 19 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the starting lineup, hitting his only triple and adding six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal.

Maxime Raynaud over the last 5 games:

17.0 PPG
10.0 RPG
52.9% FG
30.8 MPG

Underrated Rookie. 🔥 https://t.co/Q6xM2M3aqp pic.twitter.com/hzkl4lI2Ts
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) December 28, 2025

Even more, the Kings got a six-point win, which has been hard to come by for Sacramento this season. Alongside Precious Achiuwa, he was able to anchor the interior, providing a scoring punch alongside Russell Westbrook and Keon Ellis.

That's been par for the course for Raynaud lately, who has emerged as a legitimate scoring option for the Kings over the last month. In the 11 games previous to Saturday, Raynaud's averaged over 15 points per game on 55% shooting, growing even more confident as a perimeter threat.

He's failed to register a block per game in that span, though that's always been the trade-off for his high-octane scoring. And he's already shown efficiency conducive to not needing elite rim protection all the time.

At 22, Raynaud was one of the older 2025 draftees, meaning he may not develop similarly for the next half-decade like others. But his immediate NBA success already points to a bright future.

The Kings' first-round pick in Nique Clifford hasn't yet figured out the NBA, though he too has shown improvement in the last handful of games, pointing to a solid 2025 draft overall for Sacramento.