SACRAMENTO – During a press conference Thursday morning introducing the team’s two picks from the 2025 NBA Draft, first-year Kings general manager Scott Perry referred to second-rounder Maxime Raynaud as a “double-double machine.”
It’s a label that has been bestowed upon Domantas Sabonis for several years. The Kings’ 6-foot-10 big man puts up double-doubles like most people drink water – smooth and refreshingly easy. He had 61 such games during the 2024 season, one year after he compiled a streak of 61 consecutive double-doubles, the seventh-longest streak in NBA history.
Raynaud’s NBA career has yet to get off the ground, but Perry sees the 7-foot Frenchman having the abilities to make an immediate impact in Sacramento.
“Max possesses a very unique combination of size, skill and ability that really mirrors a lot of the big players in today’s game,” Perry said. “He’s a double-double machine. We think he has a lot of growth and development in front of him.”
If Raynaud, the No. 42 overall pick in the draft, can be one-tenth the player Sabonis has been in the NBA, then it will be viewed as a great pick by Perry.
Playing in college about 90 minutes south of Sacramento at Stanford, Raynaud blossomed into a fantastic prospect in the paint who also can shoot the rock very well from the perimeter.
He was chosen to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team member during his final season at Stanford after averaging 20.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 blocks.
Raynaud was the only college player last season to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, the first Power 4 conference player to hit those marks while nailing at least 50 3-pointers since Kevin Durant did it nearly two decades ago.
“Max’s talents speak for themselves/,” Kings coach Doug Christie said when asked about the prospect of playing Raynaud and Sabonis together. “Rebounding is never something you don’t need enough of. His size (and) his skill set, I think with Domas can mix in a big way. Just watching him play, he can shoot, pump-fakes, puts the ball on the deck. So now you have play-makers in all the positions.”
Raynaud will get his first taste of NBA action at the Summer League in Las Vegas. After that he’ll take a break and get some rest before beginning training camp when he’ll get the chance to line up alongside Sabonis.
Sabonis is clearly looking forward to it.
On the night of the draft, he went on X and had this to say to the Kings’ two draft picks: “Welcome to the Sacramento Kings, Rooks. Let’s work.”
Raynaud smiled at the thought.
“Someone I’ve looked up to the past couple of years,” Raynaud said. “I know at Stanford, especially my sophomore year, we based our offense a lot around the Kings and the split-action they used to have. So in that regard, he’s been a big inspiration for me.”
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