After making a surprise trade into the first round for guard/forward Nique Clifford on Day 1 of the 2025 NBA Draft, the Kings used their second-round pick to select a center on Thursday.
Sacramento drafted Maxime Raynaud out of Stanford at No. 42 overall, adding a 22-year-old Frenchman who is a skilled 7-foot shooter and can hold his own on the glass.
Raynaud was born and raised in Paris, France, before joining the Stanford men's basketball program, where he earned Second-Team All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 Most Improved Player honors as a junior. He was a superstar as a senior, averaging 20 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 blocks and 0.9 steals during his final collegiate campaign en route to First-Team All-ACC honors and the Skip Prosser Award for being the top scholar-athlete in the ACC.
The Sacramento Kings have selected Stanford's Maxime Raynaud with the No. 42 pick.
Fits a coveted mold at 7'1 with impressive shooting ability, which gives him a quicker path to a NBA role than some players who will be drafted before him. pic.twitter.com/rpQffTgGfV
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 27, 2025
With Clifford and Raynaud on their way to Sacramento to join 2024 first-rounder Devin Carter and stars like Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan, the Kings certainly are set for the future.
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