Rookie star Darius Acuff Jr. leads a deep squad of hungry prospects and seasoned G League veterans into the California Classic to battle for NBA roster spots.
The 2026 Summer League is around the corner for the Sacramento Kings, and they unveiled their 16-man roster ahead of Saturday's California Classic at the Golden 1 Center.
Ten Kings on the roster are players that KingsRoundtable has covered extensively over the last several weeks. Darius Acuff Jr., Alex Karaban, Emanuel Sharp, Elias Ralph, Anthony Dell'Orso, Marquel Sutton, Adam Flagler, Jonathan Mogbo, Dylan Cardwell and Nique Clifford are players KingsRoundtable has covered at least once.
Acuff Jr., Karaban and Sharp are the three rookies from this year's draft. Flager and Mogbo recently signed two-way contracts with the Kings. Sutton, Dell'Orso and Ralph signed to the summer league roster to compete for their careers in the NBA.
Cardwell and Clifford are the most experienced duo out of the entire roster. They played rotational minutes for Sacramento last season, especially when the injury bug hit the team. The two should dominate in the summer league with professional experience under their belt.
As for the other six players, there is a mix of undrafted free agents and veterans also competing for an opportunity in the league. BJ Edwards, Haowen Guo, Viktor Lahkin, Mitch Mascari and Jamarion Sharp are undrafted rookies. Isaiah Stevens joins Flager as the only rostered player with two years of experience.
Edwards is a 6-foot-3 guard who spent last season playing for Southern Methodist. He averaged 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists during his senior campaign.
Guo is a foreign prospect who played for the Nanjing Monkey Kings in the Chinese Basketball Association. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 20.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists for the Monkey Kings last season.
Lahkin is another foreign player, but he spent time in the G League last season playing for the Oklahoma City Blue. The 6-foot-11 forward appeared in 19 games (started 11) and averaged 8.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
Mascari is in Sacramento's developmental system, last playing for the Stockton Kings in the G League. The 6-foot-5 sharpshooting guard averaged 8.5 points on 41% from three.
Sharp is an interesting player for Sacramento, and could build a connection with Acuff Jr. He is 7-foot-5 and averaged 8.9 points and 7.7 rebounds in 14 games for the Texas Legends -- the Dallas Mavericks G League affiliate.
Stevens, like Mascari, is another player in the Kings' developmental system. He appeared in 20 games for Stockton, averaging 14.1 points, three rebounds and 8.7 assists.
Sacramento has a deep summer league roster. It features a mix of size and shooting led by Acuff Jr., who will be the star of the show in every game.
The Kings will face off against Mikel Brown Jr. and the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday at 2 p.m. PST.
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