Beam Boys: Kings’ new clubhouse ritual
- Sacramento’s young “Beam Boys” — Maxime Raynaud, Nique Clifford, Precious Achiuwa and Dylan Cardwell — turned postgame sunglasses and beam-lighting into a Kings ritual. - The group emerged during a 22-60 season, with Raynaud averaging 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds and winning Western Conference Rookie of March. - Sacramento is entering another reset after finishing 14th in the West. (basketball-reference.com)
Sacramento’s “Beam Boys” became a small but visible identity marker in a lost Kings season: four young players in sunglasses gathering to light the beam after home wins. (bvmsports.com) (alamy.com) The group centered on rookies Maxime Raynaud, Nique Clifford and Dylan Cardwell, with Precious Achiuwa joining the celebration mix as Sacramento searched for positives late in the year. (bvmsports.com) (nba.com) Raynaud gave the group the most on-court production. The 7-foot-1 rookie finished the season at 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 74 games, according to the Kings’ roster page. (nba.com) Clifford played 75 games and averaged 8.6 points, while Cardwell appeared in 44 games and averaged 5.4 points and 7.5 rebounds. Achiuwa, a fifth-year forward rather than a rookie, averaged 10.1 points and 6.7 rebounds in 73 games. (nba.com) Those numbers landed in a bleak team context. Sacramento finished 22-60, ranked 14th in the Western Conference, and closed the season with a 110-122 loss at Portland on April 12. (basketball-reference.com) (kingsherald.com) Raynaud still broke through enough to win Western Conference Rookie of the Month for March after averaging 17.9 points and 8.5 rebounds on 59% shooting, according to The Kings Herald. (kingsherald.com) His standing inside the locker room also showed up in how veterans talked about him. DeMar DeRozan publicly backed Raynaud for an All-Rookie spot, and Yahoo published a separate Raynaud interview this week reflecting on what he learned from DeRozan and Russell Westbrook. (sports.yahoo.com 1) (sports.yahoo.com 2) Sacramento has spent April talking more about lottery position, coaching continuity and offseason roster decisions than about wins. The Kings lost a draft tiebreaker with Utah on April 20 and are guaranteed at least a top-nine pick, according to The Kings Herald. (kingsherald.com) That leaves the Beam Boys as a snapshot of what the Kings did find this year: Raynaud at 42nd overall, Clifford and Cardwell in real rotation minutes, and a ritual that outlasted the standings. (kingsherald.com) (sports.yahoo.com)
