The Sacramento Kings announced this week that Domantas Sabonis will be out another four to five weeks as part of his rehabilitation for a partial meniscus tear in his left knee. With Drew Eubanks also out with an avulsion fracture of his left thumb, the front court for the Kings remains thin. But that provides an opportunity for rookie Maxime Raynaud, who is already proving to be ready for.
Raynaud is averaging 10 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1 assist, along with 0.5 blocks and 0.5 steals per game this season. But in December, he is averaging 15.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.7 blocks, and 0.7 steals in just 28 minutes per game. His potential was further highlighted Thursday with his 29 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals performance in the Kings’ overtime loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. He followed that up with 17 points and 11 rebounds against the Blazers Saturday. That floater around the rim is a key part of the offense right now.
Raynaud has improved as the season has gone on and plays with the type of energy and aggression you want out of young player. (Dylan Cardwell also had a nice game off the bench Saturday with 8 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 points.)
With Sabonis and Eubanks out, the opportunity has gotten larger. It will be nice to get Sabonis back on the floor eventually this season to see how he might play next to Raynaud, but as the tank rolls on this is the type of development opportunity you want to see.
Here are highlights from the two games against he Blazers.