Maxime Raynaud Ready to Raise Bar With Kings

Sacramento Kings big man Maxime Raynaud had an impressive rookie campaign, earning All-Rookie second team honors after being the 42nd overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Starting in 56 of his 74 games played, the 23-year-old averaged 12.5 points, 7,5 rebounds, and 1.4 assists while shooting 57.1% from the field. He had 13 games with at least 20 points, including two games in which he surpassed 30.

“Really happy, and at the same time, a little bit more expectations for next year,” Ranyaud said regarding his All-Rookie campaign in an exclusive interview with Sactown Sports from Las Vegas.

Aware of the circumstances as he drew regular minutes on a team that went 22-60 in the regular season, Raynaud is aiming to confirm his place and “make sure I stay on the right trajectory” in year two.

Before joining Sacramento in Las Vegas, Raynaud participated in a couple of FIBA qualifying games with the French National Team. Going 2-0 as a team during that stretch, he was alongside other NBA talents, including Rudy Gobert, Bilal Coulibaly, Zaccharie Risacher, Elie Okobo, and others.

“I take a lot of pride in my country and in what we’ve achieved over the past couple of years,” Raynaud told Jason Ross. He also acknowledged the benefit of getting live five-on-five game repetitions during the offseason, but his reasoning for participating goes deeper than that.

“I understand that me being in the situation that I’m in today, which is being a European French player in the NBA, has also been made possible by all the French players that have competed at a very high stage,” he continued. “So I’m also doing this for the next generation.”

Competing in Las Vegas since returning, the Sacramento second-rounder was impressive in his first showing before having a frustrating second appearance. Participating in a rookie season that featured 60 losses, he expressed having learned the importance of moving on quickly.

“Kind of next play mentality, being able to move on from it very fast,” he said. “So it’s like having the ability to be very objective about how you play, and how you look back at it, and at the same time being able to move on very fast.”

One season of experience certainly doesn’t make someone a veteran, but Raynaud does have an advantage over the rookies going through this for the first time. Joining the group late made being one of the leaders a bit more complicated at first, too.

“I struggled a little bit with it because I came back so late from the national team,” Raynaud said. “They already kind of had like a team hierarchy, a team structure before I came in… I was trying to spend some time one-on-one, trying to figure out. You know, okay, right now you’re struggling. Do you like to be left alone? Do you like to have someone come talk to you?”

“Hopefully, I can learn a little bit from that and already be a little bit more of a mentor when we come in around, like you know, September and October.”

After building a stellar on-court chemistry with veteran guard Russell Westbrook last season, the future Hall of Famer is still currently in free agency and likely will not come back to Sacramento. Instead, the guard that Raynaud is projected to be running pick-and-rolls with incoming lottery pick Darius Acuff Jr.

Summer League has been the first chance for the pairing to get reps together. Raynaud called the rookie guard “amazing” but acknowledged the expected adjustment.

“Just trying to understand, like how can I help him? How can he help me? And how can that help the team?” Raynaud said. “Hopefully, we can build that relationship and help us in the future.”

Their pairing will likely be a key part of next season, a year that Raynaud hopes features more wins and growth from him personally and the Kings as a whole.

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What is the next Sacramento Kings Offseason Event?

The Sacramento Kings will conclude their Las Vegas Summer League slate on Friday afternoon when they face the Charlotte Hornets at 3:30 PM PT at UNLV’s Pavilion.

Sactown Sports will be ON-SITE in Las Vegas ALL WEEK LONG from July 12-19th! Be sure to remain locked into Sactown Sports for your Sacramento Kings Summer League news, analysis, and much more!

Upcoming Sacramento Kings Offseason Schedule

• Thursday, July 9th – Sunday, July 19th – NBA Las Vegas Summer League
• August TBD – 2026-27 NBA Schedule release
• Late September – NBA training camps begin

2026 Sacramento Kings Las Vegas Summer League Schedule

• Friday, July 17th: vs. Charlotte Hornets – 3:30 p.m. PT (Prime)

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