The Sacramento Kings selected Stanford big man Maxime Raynaud on Thursday with the 42nd overall pick in the second round of the 2025 NBA draft.
Raynaud is a 7-foot-1 ½, 237-pound center who was widely projected as a first-round pick. As a senior at Stanford, the 22-year-old Frenchman averaged 20.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 0.9 steals while shooting 46.7% from the field and 34.7% from 3-point range on 5.5 attempts per game.
Several second-round prospects who came to Sacramento for pre-draft workouts were available at No. 42, including Australian forward Alex Toohey, Serbian center Bogoljub Markovic, Wisconsin forward John Tonje and Duke guard Tyrese Proctor. Instead, the Kings chose a player who was projected at No. 26 by NBADraftRoom.com, No. 28 by Tankathon.com and No. 30 by CBSSports.com.
CBSSports.com wrote: “Raynuad quietly flourished on a floundering Stanford team last season as one of the best players in all of college basketball. The center has remarkable movement skills for his size and can not only space the floor with his shot, but can put the ball on the deck and create. A rare skill for a player his size.”
NBADraftRoom.com wrote: “Big and fundamentally sound, Raynaud has good handles and ball skills for a 7-footer and can really shoot the rock. Moves well and has some big wing skills. Looks like he could fill a role in the NBA early in his career.”
The Kings made their second-round selection 24 hours after general manager Scott Perry made a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder to acquire the rights to 24th overall pick Nique Clifford. Sacramento acquired Clifford in exchange for a top 16 protected 2027 first-round pick (via San Antonio Spurs) that will become two 2027 second-round picks if it does not convey.
Clifford, 23, is a 6-foot-6 ½, 202-pound shooting guard/small forward who averaged 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.2 steals as a senior at Colorado State. He shot 49.6% from the field and 37.7% from 3-point range.
Clifford earned 2025 All-Mountain West Conference first-team and defensive team honors. He scored a career-high 36 points against Boise State in his final regular season game and went on to win the Mountain West tournament MVP award.