The Kings are 0–6 to start the 2026–27 season, and nobody is really all that surprised. Sacramento profiled as one of the worst rosters in the NBA entering the year and most projections anticipated a bottom-three finish in the West (if not the whole league). The franchise finished 22–60 last year and were unable to make any notable changes over the offseason due to the albatross contracts of Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis—two offensively talented but defensively compromised and injury-prone “stars” who cannot play winning basketball together.

So, losing the first six games of this new campaign was in line with expectations. The two big names are getting their stats; Sabonis is ripping down a league-leading 15.8 rebounds per night in 37 minutes per game and LaVine is putting up 23.5 points on 15.8 shots per night. Despite that, the on-court product remains brutal. The Kings rank 27th in offensive rating, 29th in defensive rating and dead last in net rating. They’re giving up nearly 130 points per night. As is often the case with teams like this, the bad is bad. Sacramento kept it close in three of its losses so far but the others were blowouts, with a minimum margin of defeat of 21 points.

And these defeats haven’t come to titans of the NBA, either. Opening night was a loss to the reeling, injury-riddled franchise that is the Clippers. Two losses came to the Grizzlies, who are much better than anybody thought as the NBA’s only remaining undefeated team at time of writing but still aren’t killing opponents with a talent advantage. The worst came to the Pelicans in a battle of winless teams last week; obviously the Kings did not emerge victorious, giving one of the worst teams in the NBA their first win.

Even if it’s what everybody thought was going to happen... it’s not great!

Fortunately there is a light in the darkness in the form of Sacramento’s lottery pick, Darius Acuff Jr. But he may be the only light for a while yet.

Darius Acuff Jr. is proving worthy of face of the franchise status

The book on Acuff Jr. coming out of Arkansas was a familiar one—he’s an electric shot-maker who will not hesitate to shoot the rock. Everything else is something of a work in progress. He was a good passer without much consideration for quality of shot-selection. And the defense was not good at all. As a smaller point guard Acuff will never have much room for error on that end but his tendencies were more Trae Young-like in terms of interest and engagement than anything.

When he got taken by the Kings seventh in the draft, he figured to be in the running for Rookie of the Year because he was not just the most exciting but by far the best talent Sacramento has had to build around since De’Aaron Fox was in town. Perhaps no rookie would have a greener light than Acuff; he might give all those points back defensively but boy, could he fill it up on the right nights.

So far, that’s all proven largely true. Acuff’s struggles defensively have been clear as day even amongst a sea of poor defenders in Sacramento. And when he’s cooking, it’s tremendous entertainment. When he’s not, it’s quite ugly—because those shots are going up no matter what!

Acuff started his NBA career going 5-for-24 in a 26-point loss. Undeterred, he went 10-for-26 and 9-for-23 over the next two nights. But signs of progress were there. He was learning to read the NBA defense and finding teammates between his many shot attempts. He got to the line 12 times in his second game, which is tough for a rookie. And given how often the Arkansas had the ball in his hands while averaging north of 35 minutes per game, the turnovers were kept to a manageable level for the most part.

Then Acuff found his rhythm over the last two games and started to ball out. He dropped 34 points on 50% shooting to go with 14 assists against the Pelicans. Two nights later, the point guard drained nine three-pointers en route to a 38-point night. All losing efforts, as noted. But it’s a rare quality to be able to catch fire from the field like that.

Darius Acuff Jr career-high 38 vs Memphis:

38 PTS | 5 AST | 12/25 FG | 9/14 3FG | 70 TS% pic.twitter.com/xl9SYzo0SU

— Basketball Performances (@NBAPerformances) November 1, 2026

We have seen numerous ball-dominant guards chuck their way out of the league, and it’s harder than ever to survive without playing at least passable defense no matter how much you can score. But if a player is special enough in one area, an organization will do all it can to figure everything else out. Acuff is shaping up to be that kind of special. He’s scored 158 points in the first five games of his career. The only other player in NBA history to reach 150 career points in five games is Wilt freaking Chamberlain.

It’s a little too early to declare Acuff a future star but he’s definitely got enough talent for Sacramento to consider him the feature player of the franchise going forward. Now if they can just win a game...

When will the Kings win a game?

Looking at the upcoming schedule for Sac-town, the Kings might be waiting a while yet to land their first win. It could even be weeks.

Only three of their next 10 games come against opponents who currently boast a losing record. There are several title contenders (Spurs, Lakers, Thunder, Celtics) and superstars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Cooper Flagg/Kyrie Irving duo mixed in. The Magic (Nov. 10) and Suns (Nov. 18) games feel like their best opportunities to earn some wins, and at large eight of these next 10 games are at home; all it takes is a bad shooting night from the other side to have a chance on your own turf.

But there is also a very real possibility Sacramento goes 0–10 or worse before finally lighting the beam. Far from ideal.

Acuff, however, will make it all worth tuning into.

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