How Darius Acuff Jr. Fits With Domantas Sabonis, and Why Kings Should Keep Him

Now that the dust has settled from the 2026 NBA draft, and the Sacramento Kings got their man in Darius Acuff Jr., we can start to look toward the regular season. There’s no question that the Kings will look a lot better offensively with players returning from injury. Still, one specific player might have an especially big impact in making life easier for Acuff.

As De’Aaron Fox could attest, playing with Domantas Sabonis is ideal for guards who like to get downhill and are comfortable shooting off the bounce. Below, I’ll get into some reasons why it may be a good thing for Sabonis to stick around while Acuff adjusts to his new role as the lead guard for the Kings.

"He was dreaming somewhere in his sleep... A lot of blood, sweat and tears... it all paid off for this day."

Darius Acuff Jr. put in the work, and now he's been drafted 7th overall in the 2026 NBA Draft by the @SacramentoKings 👏 pic.twitter.com/jUAVekmhnt
— NBA (@NBA) June 27, 2026

The “King” of Screen Assists

For years now, Domantas Sabonis has been one of the best in the NBA when it comes to screen assists. For reference, the term screen assist is used when a player sets a legal screen that directly leads to a teammate making a field goal. Last season was obviously an outlier with Sabonis’ injuries, but he still ended the season second in screen assists with four per game. In 2024-25, Sabonis averaged six screen assists per game, and that led to 13.4 points created per game.

Most screen assists per game this season:

6.1 — Sabonis
4.9 — Gobert
4.8 — Duren
4.5 — Jokic pic.twitter.com/ONvLpzHjLw
— StatMuse (@statmuse) March 17, 2024

Acuff is more than capable of creating advantages without screens, but he’ll likely see teams throw bigger players on him, and he may not have as easy a time as he did at Arkansas. With Sabonis in the middle, Acuff will not only be able to play off-ball at times, but he’ll also get the benefit of all the separation that Domas creates for his teammates as a screener. This is no shade toward Trevon Brazile or Malique Ewin, but Acuff has never played with a center like Sabonis.

You go, I go

Another huge bonus of having a center like Sabonis on the roster is that he’s capable of initiating offense as well. For some guards, that isn’t exactly a bonus, but Acuff is very comfortable starting without the ball. He shot 49% in catch-and-shoot situations, averaging 1.5 points per possession according to Jonathan Givony via Synergy.

Acuff isn’t the same type of shooter that Steph Curry is, and I wouldn’t expect him to be running all over the floor to get a shot. I would expect to see an occasional pin-down or flare screen, though.

Darius Acuff shot 50% on 120 catch and shoot attempts

Elite 3 point shooter, has the ability to play off the ball if needed pic.twitter.com/rr9sDrujBP
— NetsKingdom 👑🗽 (@NetsKingdomAJ) May 16, 2026

The other benefit of having Sabonis on the court with Acuff is that Domas is one of the best in the league when it comes to DHOs (dribble handoffs). Combine that with the straight-line speed Acuff possesses (94th percentile in the sprint at the combine), and you can see how easy it will be for him to get downhill. This will be especially useful when opposing teams put wings or bigger guards on Acuff to try to slow him down.

Can’t Have It All

I know what you’re thinking, and yes, there are some downsides to an Acuff/Sabonis partnership. First and foremost, they are a very lackluster pairing defensively, which may be putting it lightly as well.

Acuff struggled to navigate screens, and his size and relatively tight hips will make it tough for him to be a good point of attack defender. Couple that with Sabonis’ lack of lateral quickness and limited rim protection, and you have a potential recipe for disaster.

I heard that Darius Acuff Jr. might be the worst defender in the NBA next year. Watched his defense during the SEC Championship to see if people were exaggerating.

It's pretty rough. pic.twitter.com/GbLRN9nH13
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) March 19, 2026

Even the most positive fan probably would tell you they’re worried about Acuff and Sabonis defensively, but it will be a good test for Acuff early on. When defending guards who can shoot out of the pick and roll, Acuff is going to have to be much better at sticking on his man and getting through screens because Sabonis will not be able to show and recover.

Ideally, the Kings would be pairing Acuff with an athletic rim protector who can cover a lot of ground defensively, but they’ll need to make do for now.

Speaking of athleticism, that comes into play on offense as well. Acuff might’ve been the best lob passer in the country last year, and unfortunately, Sabonis is not much of a high flyer. In fact, I worry that the lack of vertical threat and questionable shooting might cause some spacing issues for Acuff next season. If Sabonis can get back to his 2023-24 self when it comes to shooting the three, it would go a long way.

Malik Monk and Domantas Sabonis were SPECTACULAR in the @SacramentoKings 2OT win!@AhmadMonk: 37 PTS (7 3PM), 9 AST@Dsabonis11: 22 PTS, 23 REB, 12 AST pic.twitter.com/qndvIECArQ
— NBA (@NBA) January 4, 2024

Beam Team 2.0?

There are obviously issues when it comes to building a competitive team with both Acuff and Sabonis as starters, and I expect that to show up heavily on the defensive end. Still, there are a lot of reasons to be excited about them playing together for at least a season.

Acuff’s shooting ability and elite passing will be something that Sacramento hasn’t had at the point guard spot since Fox, and we all remember that he had the best years of his career playing with Domas.

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