Raynaud Proves the Kings Got It Right at No. 42

Without the injury to Domantas Sabonis this season, the Sacramento Kings may not have discovered what they have in former Stanford Cardinal Maxime Raynaud. 

On Wednesday, May 20th, the NBA announced its All-Rookie teams, and Raynaud was named to the NBA All-Rookie second team.

A second-round draft pick of the Sacramento Kings in the 2025 draft, Raynaud quickly showed his value, and was a major bright spot for a Kings team that was among the league's worst teams at 22-60.

Signing a three-year, $5.95 million rookie deal after getting drafted, Raynaud had a very limited role early on and received minimal playing time with the NBA squad. At one point in the year, he was even assigned to the G-League for development and consistent playing time.

But after Sabonis went down, Raynaud filled the void quickly — by December he was averaging 30.6 minutes a night.

Once Raynaud started earning regular playing time, he wasted no time in showing the basketball world that the Kings may have made the best value pick of the draft with the No. 42 overall selection. 

Starting with a breakout 19-point game on November 30, capped with 16 in the fourth quarter, Raynaud had found his spot in the Kings rotation. 

In March, Raynaud played his best basketball, earning Western Conference Rookie of the Month after averaging 17.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. He ended the season with 12.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

Raynaud became the first second-round pick in league history to average at least 12 points and seven rebounds in a season while shooting at least 55%.

Deemed a 'sponge' by head coach Doug Christie due to his ability to absorb coaching and learn things quickly, Raynaud will be a major factor in the Kings' future plans. With the franchise deep in a rebuild, expect him to be a player that Sacramento builds around.

A star during his time at Stanford, Raynaud was an important player during all four years of his tenure. But it wasn't until his senior campaign in 2024-25 that he truly broke out.

Among the top players in the nation all year long, Raynaud went toe-to-toe with Duke star Cooper Flagg in several statistical categories — including points per game, where Raynaud averaged 20.2 to Flagg's 19.2 — before ending his final season on The Farm averaging over 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Those accolades included First-team All-ACC and ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year for his performance in the classroom, graduating as a double major in math and computer science.

The headlining player in Kyle Smith's first season as the head coach at Stanford, Raynaud helped the Cardinal set the tone for the Smith era, guiding the program to a 20-win season after finishing with a losing record the year before.

Without Raynaud, the Cardinal leaned on freshman standout Ebuka Okorie to help propel them to a second consecutive season with 20 wins. Okorie, like Raynaud the previous year, is in the NBA Draft, and the team that selects him could also be getting an under-the-radar difference-maker.