Darius Acuff Jr.
Acuff is a rookie starting point guard on a winless Kings team, and he has a heavy-minutes, high-volume scoring role for now, with shaky shooting efficiency.
Role
He starts at point guard. He has played 33 to 41 minutes in each of the Kings' first six games, averaging 36.5 (A Royal Pain, citing the first six games). Through six games he averages 26.3 points, 6.3 assists and 3.7 rebounds, with 32.2% from three (Yahoo Sports, checked Nov 2). Yahoo also reports he has coach Doug Christie's full green light to shoot, and he has attempted 20 or more shots in each of his first five games. A Royal Pain calls him the team's only dedicated point guard. Fox Sports/Rotowire say Ben Simmons (Achilles) is no longer in the picture. The Kings' most-used lineup is Acuff, Zach LaVine, De'Andre Hunter, Precious Achiuwa and Domantas Sabonis (SI, about Oct 30). Center Maxime Raynaud went down with a right knee injury, per a Fox Sports headline. I did not find an update on it. I did not check a depth chart or minutes tracker page, and I found nothing on back-to-back rest plans.
He is producing at a historic rate for a teenager: 38 points on Saturday and three 30-point games in six outings. Yahoo has him ninth in the league in scoring. He leads the rookie class in scoring and assists. He had 34 points, 14 assists and 6 rebounds in 40-plus minutes against New Orleans. Rotowire/Fox say the Kings will give him all the minutes he can handle, which supports strong averages. SI notes that with LaVine off the floor, the Acuff and Sabonis pairing has a +26.3 net rating, though that is only 19 minutes.
The volume comes with poor efficiency. His debut was 5-of-24 shooting. Since then he has shot 9-of-23, 10-of-26 and 13-of-26 in games where he scored 22, 33 and 34. Fox/Rotowire expect shaky percentages. The Kings are 0-6 and have no lineup with a positive net rating over more than 5 minutes (SI). Acuff and LaVine are -17.4 in 124 minutes together. A Royal Pain argues the 36.5-minute load risks burning him out and that the team should pull back, and it says fellow rookie Boozer is outplaying him in almost every way. Acuff's heavy workload is the result of a thin roster, and it could be reduced.
Where analysts split
Analysts disagree on whether the current load of 35+ minutes and 20+ shots a night is sustainable or good for him. Fantasy-style coverage treats the volume as the draw. A Royal Pain and SI question the burden and the LaVine pairing, with SI suggesting the two should rarely share the floor. Neither source reports a coaching plan to cut his minutes, and no change to the starting group has been reported.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
Others at PG
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