Darius Acuff Jr. has brutal NBA debut vs. Clippers

Against one of the NBA’s better perimeter defenders, Miami’s Davion Mitchell, Acuff posted one of the best stat lines of his rookie season on Sunday. Shooting over 50 percent from the field, the Kings guard recorded his second 30-point double-double. While Acuff recorded five turnovers, he did a good job navigating the two-man game throughout Sunday’s defeat. The Kings play three games next week, starting with the Magic on Tuesday.

Acuff didn’t have much of an issue scoring against this Kings defense. His ability as a rookie to take on usage, be relatively efficient, and get buckets and run the offense is impressive. His upside will be all about defense and if he decides to put in effort on that end, but his ability as an offensive player has the potential to be one of the best in the NBA.

DeAndre Hunter (illness) will not play against the Spurs on Friday, so Leaky Black will get the start. Leaky has been an energy guy who has gained some favor in the eyes of Doug Christie. If you’re in a deeper league, Leaky Black could be worth a stream, but the ball won’t be in his hands with this current iteration of the Kings.

Acuff continues his rookie of the year campaign and put up more crazy numbers as a rookie. Acuff is 7th in the league in usage which should tell you how much he’s been commanding the offense on this team. If you grabbed him in redraft, enjoy the numbers for this season because there’s no sign of this slowing down. In dynasty, he needs to get better defensively for him to command this usage.

Although he committed five turnovers, Acuff’s overall production on Monday was a nice way for fantasy managers to start their weeks. Against the Mavericks, the rookie point guard was at his best in the second half, scoring 19 points, grabbing four rebounds, and dishing out three assists while shooting 7-of-11 from the field. Given Acuff’s inexperience, there will be bumps in the road. However, the Kings should be pleased with his progress so far.

After six games, it’s clear the Kings won’t impose any offensive limitations on Acuff. While efficiency can be an issue at times, that was not the case on Saturday. Acuff established new highs in points and three-pointers while shooting a respectable 48 percent from the field. He was especially good in the first half, scoring 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting and committing one turnover. The Kings play four games next week, starting with the Mavericks on Monday.

The trend of Acuff’s field goal percentage improving every game continued in this one, which resulted in the best game of his young career. Acuff became just the fourth teenager in NBA history to have at least 30 points and 10 assists in a game, and while it didn’t lead to a win, it was an impressive performance. He cooled off in the second half after entering the break with 21 points, but it still led to a fantastic outing for the rookie in just his fifth game. It may not be this gaudy or efficient every night, but Acuff should continue to have plenty of usage all season.

While the field-goal percentage remains relatively low, Acuff shot 40 percent from the field in Tuesday’s defeat. His percentage has increased in each of Sacramento’s first four games, and the rookie point guard has recorded 19 assists and 11 turnovers. Acuff still has plenty of work to do on efficiency, but he is making strides, which is good news for the Kings and fantasy managers.

After totaling seven assists in his first two games, Acuff matched that number on Sunday. The field-goal percentage wasn’t the best, but the points and assists were encouraging. Tuesday’s matchup with the Spurs will be challenging, given how good their young guards are offensively. It will be fun to see how Acuff takes on that test in the first of three games the Kings will play in Week 2.

The first thing you will see with Acuff is the points and get very excited. Then as you look at the rest of the stats, its pretty empty. He did get to the line 12 times and hit 11 which really should help your FT% category. While he did score a lot, especially in the second half when he got rolling, he will need to be better on the peripheral stats if he’s going to be a good category league player. He will have many more performances like this one later in the season.