Scouts praise rookie Maxime Raynaud after strong early starts
- Sacramento Kings rookie center Maxime Raynaud drew fresh praise after recounting how Denver’s Jonas Valančiūnas gave him his “welcome to the NBA” moment. - Raynaud, the No. 42 pick in the 2025 draft, averaged 17.9 points and 8.5 rebounds in 15 March starts and won West rookie honors. - Sacramento’s second-round bet turned into a regular starter and Rookie of the Month. (nba.com)
Maxime Raynaud’s rookie season in Sacramento has moved from curiosity to proof of concept. The Kings’ second-round center is now being talked about as one of the draft’s best values. (nba.com) (nbcsportsbayarea.com) The latest burst of attention came after Raynaud described his “welcome to the NBA” moment against Denver backup center Jonas Valančiūnas. Raynaud said Valančiūnas “walked me to the rim” in a November 22 win over the Nuggets. (nbcsportsbayarea.com) That story landed after Raynaud had already built a strong statistical case. The Kings announced on April 2 that he was the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for March after averaging 17.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 33.0 minutes in 15 starts. (nba.com) March was the month the production stopped looking fluky. Raynaud posted 32 points against San Antonio on March 17 and followed it with 30 against Philadelphia on March 19, becoming the first Kings rookie since 1993 to record back-to-back 30-point games. (nba.com) (nbcsportsbayarea.com) Sacramento drafted Raynaud with the 42nd pick on June 26, 2025 after a final Stanford season in which he averaged 20.2 points and 10.6 rebounds. He entered the NBA as a 7-foot center with scoring touch, but not the profile of an immediate rotation lock. (nba.com) He became one because the Kings needed minutes at center and Raynaud was ready for them. Coach Doug Christie said in March that the rookie had “smashed through the ceiling” after opening the season behind Domantas Sabonis and Drew Eubanks. (nbcsportsbayarea.com) The mentorship piece inside Sacramento has been public, too. In a recent team podcast appearance, Raynaud said one lesson from veterans Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan was their “competitiveness and professionalism,” after joking that rookies learn not to leave the bus without checking whether the vets need anything. (nbcsportsbayarea.com) (youtube.com) DeRozan has also pushed Raynaud’s case beyond internal praise. In March, he said the Kings center should make an All-Rookie team as Raynaud’s counting stats climbed into the top tier among first-year players. (usatoday.com) By the end of the season, Raynaud was no longer a novelty second-rounder. On the Kings’ roster page, he is listed at 74 games, 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game — numbers that turned an early anecdote about Valančiūnas into a fuller rookie résumé. (nba.com)
