Kings center Maxime Raynaud is expected to join Team France this summer ahead of the 2027 World Cup qualifiers, according to Maxime Aubin of L’Equipe (Twitter link). The 2025 second-round pick could be an All-Rookie selection, having averaged 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds through 73 games, including 55 starts (26.4 minutes per contest).
“I’ve seen (French national team GM) Boris (Diaw) several times during the season,” Raynaud told Aubin (hat tip to Eurohoops). “The roster hasn’t been announced yet, so I don’t know anything for sure, but it seems like they are considering me for the FIBA windows. I would be very happy to take part. Representing the French national team is a unique opportunity.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Former NBA guard Carlik Jones has signed an extension with Partizan Belgrade, the Serbian team announced (Twitter video link). Jones’ new contract runs through 2027/28, per Mozzart Sport. According to BasketNews, the 28-year-old missed the first few months of 2025/26 due to a fractured foot, but he has excelled since he returned to the court, averaging 15.6 PPG, 4.5 APG and 2.9 RPG in 14 EuroLeague games.
- Ex-NBA big man Darius Bazley has been waived by the Ningbo Rockets a little over a month after signing with the Chinese club, relays Bryan Kalbrosky of For The Win (subscriber link). The 25-year-old forward/center was upset about an inbound play that occurred in Wednesday’s game against the Shanghai Sharks (YouTube link). Bazley’s pass, which was supposed to go to teammate Zavier Simpson, was stolen by an opponent, who quickly converted a three-pointer. Bazley argued with Simpson about the play and then intentional threw the subsequent inbound pass to the referee, who was standing out of bounds. Bazley was pulled from the game and was reportedly spotted pushing a teammate, who was attempting to calm him down. The former first-round pick was released after the game.
- Valencia Basket guard Jean Montero has reportedly received contract offers worth $4MM+ from multiple college programs, according to Shot Vetakis and outlets in the Dominican Republic (hat tip to Dario Skerlectic of Sportando). Montero was one of the top undrafted players in 2022. He was expected to join the Knicks on an Exhibit 10 contract that summer, but the deal reportedly fell through because he had a significant buyout clause at the time with Spain’s Gran Carania.
Raynaud lol. He can score the basketball in many different ways. I kind of liken him to David Lee. Offensively maybe he’ll get it done and I think Lee even made the All-Star game one year.
But his defense was so bad they had to ship him out of town. I can still picture Andrew Bogut screaming at him for not rotating over. Hilarious.
I’ve never seen a guy get lost on defense as much as Max. He’ll double team at the wrong time leaving his guy open for a layup and please tell me.., anyone, have you ever seen Max box out his guy on the defensive boards? Lol the next time you see him do it will be the first time he does it.
Maybe he’ll care when his team gets better because right now they’re just out there running around. Let’s give this a few years to see if someone gets in his ear about the defensive side of the ball?
Yeah. Maxy and defensive end are comical mentioned together. The French revolution is coming though and they don’t need Raynaud.
That Darius Bazley sounds like he needs one put on his chin.
But, but, but…Al says he was the greatest center in last year’s draft…The Warriors blew it by not taking him…I think Al either has a school girl crush on Max, or is a troll. He can’t get enough of Maxi…
If someone likes Max, it’s for his scoring. Heck, there’s even NBA coaches who love scorers and will play guys who don’t care too much about defense.
With the kings right now wins and losses don’t matter as much so they’ll run guys out there who can put points on the board.
Plus, I think their regular guys are on the shelf? So it’s an excellent opportunity for a young guy to play and grow. I just hope the bad habits don’t become a thing for him.
When I first heard of Max, he might be find for the Warriors right in their own backyard. Then someone point me to an article about his defensive shortcomings. Uh…Time to move on.
I agree with you. The King’s bigs have been injured all season long. They also had Dario Saric. I applaud Max for making the most of the opportunity. I doubt he would have had the chance if the Warriors had drafted him. He probably would have been at Santa Cruz all season long.
Some have suggested that Raynaud would be better off playing the 4. They have another rookie center, Cardwell. Some liken him to Ben Wallace.
“But basketball is a 2 way game”
Only goes for Luka I guess. Lmao
Luka is a all nba and always in the MVP conversation type talent. You can build a team around him to accommodate he’s short comings. He also has the best defensive rating out of the starters for his team, including leBron James. Has led a team to the finals and multiple deep runs. Reynaud will never be this type of guy. I’d still take Queen 100%.
Was on Queen since November 2024, looked like a 10 year veteran. IDK why he fell. I was clamoring for him over Essengue but oh well. Good for him. He’s a talented kid with an extremely bright future.
Defense is a lot easier to teach and a lot easier to develop in centers than offense is.
Like like in baseball where catchers offensive game tends to lag behind defense the same is true of centers in the nba
There’s plenty of all defense limited offense guys. Always has been. There’s not many all offense limited defense guys around at the C position.
As a whole Sacramento just isn’t a good defensive team in general ranking like 3rd worst or 2nd worst. So I’m sure his bad defense gets exposed pretty easy on a bad defense team. On someone like Thunder or Celtics I doubt it’s as much an issue
Either way. Kings got a steal at 42.
@Gary
Keys not hey carried away with the “he can score in many different ways”. 72% of his FG came from within 10 ft of the basket and very few were within 3ft. He lives in that 3ft to 10ft space. He shot “ok for a big” from the 3 at 32% but that doesn’t justify him shooting from they’re on the regular, which to his credit, he doesn’t. He shoots about 1 a game. Enough that maybe you have to at least attempt to D him up that far away or make not as the overall taken kennel k improved and you don’t want to leave a Dybantsa, Peterson or Boozer in single coverage. The biggest mistake Sac made was not giving Max 18 to 20 shots per game to really see what he can do with an expanded role. Even with all those other players injured he was still the 3rd option despite a high FG%. In almost all of the last 10 games Max was the 3rd or 4th option, in most cases, behind Plowden, Achiuwa, Carter or Clifford. What’s the point? Every year of suckdom should be dedicated to developing your kids. I guess is tough because Clifford and Plowden are rookies or 2nd year guys trying to establish themselves too. But Plowden is 27. Is he really in your future?
Yes, it makes you wonder what kind of offense they were running over there. Just a motion thing with no real plays? Whoever is open, shoot it? Pass and screen away and hope for the best?
Absolutely reaching for “content” with a blurb on Carlik Jones
Yep, lol, you’re right, but I can’t imagine that the NBA would pleased if we wrote the REAL headline, which is this…
“All regular starting players declared inactive for the entire NBA schedule today.”
Yessir I get it. The last day of the NBA season is always so weird and mostly a snoozefest
It’s hoops rumours, and basketball is a global sport. For example, I’m a Partizan Belgrade fan, and I don’t mind seeing Carlik extension reported here.
Clowns clown themselves …. You know basketball like Ted Williams knows CHIPS. Raynaud is one of smartest bigs in NBA. He graduated Standard in four yrs with two degrees. What’s your problem clown. He destroyed the Warriors and now you need attention. The NBA calls Raynaud the best big in draft. I was just first. There isn’t a big on Warriors who is better., And he’s a ROokie lmao 😂🫣.
I’ll just let the NBA tell you. —————- 42nd pick. Thats bigger than your basketball IQ 👀…..
Key 2025-26 Rookie Year Report Findings:Performance Metrics: By late March, Raynaud was averaging 11.4 points and 7.3 rebounds, shooting over 56% from the field.March Surge: Following a teammate’s injury, he averaged 17.9 points and 8.5 rebounds in March, including a 32-point career-high, according to Sactown Sports 1140 AM and a Facebook video.
Historical Context: Raynaud became the first second-round pick to win Western Conference Rookie of the Month this season and first in the Kings’ Sacramento era to average 10+ points and 7+ rebounds on 55%+ shooting, notes Sactown Sports 1140 AM.
Draft Value: Regarded by analysts and observers as a potential steal of the 2025 draft, as detailed in this Sactown Sports 1140 AM article, he has outperformed his 42nd-overall selection, as discussed on
NBA.com.Development: Raynaud has credited the team’s coaching staff and veteran leadership for his growth, as reported by Yahoo Sports and SI.com.
Gee I must know Ball. The NBA is finally catching up to me. Only the DMstMkrs can trash a 42 pick.
Like the littlegiant. Whos on a little boys tirade now. You guys are true adults.
Bro I like Raynaud and agree that you can’t judge a 42nd overall pick like a 5th overall pick in terms of where they are today. There’s a team WHY he fell to the 2nd round and his defense was lost of the problem. The question is, should his defensive lapses caused such a prosipous fall from mid to late first round to the second round? That’s a legit concern. I don’t really blame the Warriors for passing on him. They’ve always prioritized centers that we’re defense minded like Bogut and Looney. Effectively, they have a big that they’re seemingly committed to developing in Quentin Post. In fact, it was obvious they had no intentions on keeping whomever they drafted with the 2nd overall pick and paying them because they inserted themselves into a trade where they basically got nothing in return for the guy they drafted (Koby Brea). One of the two guys (Jahmai Mashak) was immediately sent to the Grizzlies and the other (Alex Toohey) never played in the NBA yet. Also, Sacramento is a hard team to judge any rookie by. You mentioned that he exploded when the other stars were injured this giving him more playing time. The fact that he has never been the top scoring option the last 10 games but has been highly efficient might indicate that he’s not a versatile scorer. he either gets it right underneath the rim or an uncontested 3 from outside. How will that change when teams chairmen him in the perimeter and make him move his feet? How will he perform in a better ecosystem with better players? If Sac moves off of the vets they have but draft a Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer this year and then another top 5 guy next year then where will he fall in that ecosystem? Is he the next Porzingas or the next or a bigger and slightly better version of Ersan Ilyasova? I like him but sometimes an underrated player can really become an overrated player because our egos truck is to believe that we’re smarter than everyone else. Sac may have made a great “value” pick but did they find a franchise building block star or just an above average 10 to 12 year rotation big that can stretch the floor and rebound who you don’t have to pay much for the next few years? I would not be shocked if he’s traded in the next year or so while his newness and hype is high.
Ya know. The mind boggling thing about his maniacal rants about Raynaud/Warriors is what he glosses over.
With the way the Warriors ended the 24-25 season, they had designs of going deep in the playoffs in 25-26. But, at Center, they had Draymond, a power forward, Looney, no offense, and Post, developing. A veteran big who can score was needed. A question mark rookie from the 2nd round is not whom you want your playoff hopes to rest on. If they were tanking, then draft Raynaud.
Raynaud was the only healthy center the Kings had all season long. So, he got a lot of playing time and took advantage of it.
You can’t call Raynaud the best center in the draft after one season. All the other centers haven’t had that much time to play. Give it 3 seasons and see how things shake out.
Oh, the Warriors wanted keep Toohey. But, his season was ended by a knee injury. His spot went Malevy Leons, a similar player.
This is the knowledge they think is grounded. The 42nd pick is a gift to find a real talent. To find a talent that can help is even better.
This clown after NOT watching Raynaud all year can say this with a straight face.
“ But, at Center, they had Draymond, a power forward, Looney, no offense, and Post, developing. A veteran big who can score was needed. A question mark rookie from the 2nd round is not whom you want your playoff hopes”
Clearly has no clue who Warriors drafted. Or who Raynaud is. A FN yr has passed.
UDKB ……. little fella. Dumbest nonsense on here.
I can’t tell you how much I will enjoy. The Warriors sucking for your lifetime.
Sorry Davey … I don’t include you in Wagoneers.
I have avreally easy question ????
Tell us who Warriors should draft and why.
Plan A,B,C. Please give some Warrior fan knowledge
So, you are trying to tell me that Raynaud would have provided the same skill level that Al Horford does. Raynaud could give that from day one. If so, then why did he last until #42? He should have gone in the top 5. If not, he would still have spent the year at Santa Cruz. The Kings sent him to the GLeague. Why would the Warriors be any different.
Go learn the game little giant. We are levels apart.
Enjoy the lottery. And you still haven’t told us who Warriors should take and why. Here’s your chance shine little fella.
The Warriors haven’t sucked in my lifetime. It doesn’t matter who I think the Warriors should have drafted. Did they help themselves in the off season. Yes.
The question is who should they draft. Give us your knowledge….. 2026 draft. I need to spell it for you. Littlefella. Yeah and they helped themselves into the play-in. That’s amazing. How do they do it.
First you need to understand the real issue here. And the real argument. These clowns here “The Wagoneers”.
This goes back to Kuminga and Wiseman. Mostly Kuminga and the disrespect and disdain they showed and posted about him. I disagreed then and still today. All franchises are responsible for their picks and development of those picks. Thats what this business is. And that has been my argument. They rather trash 20-22 yr olds. Rather than to accept responsibility for their team and move on. They rather trash a kid for years instead of looking for the best way out and move on. You are very late to this conversation lol.
Now its another sign of their ineptitude to accept responsibility for their teams lack of commitment.
Raynaud, The Warriors needed a center ever since they let Wiseman walk. All I did was show them one who was well worth the pick. It was god sent at 42. Fact is they and Warriors should know him better than I do. Considering he played 4 yrs at Stanford. He was the NCAA scholar athlete of the year. Which means an IQ player. Which means he can handle any offense. Now we all know teams miss on talent. But this one was too blatant . And worse ALL these clowns have waited and rooted for Raynaud to fail all year. Like it was going to reflect on me. Childish right. I am just enjoying trashing clowns who love to hate and trash kids cause they don’t help their teams succeed. It’s personal for then. And just entertaining to me.
Raynaud was a late first rd pick in draft. Considered by most. He was there at 42. It doesn’t take a genius to say a team with no center should take him. For gods sake just look at who they did take. And now that he has shown to be best center in draft. Just shows their knowledge. incompetence, hate.
And WTF does playing have to do with anything. You don’t understand a player has to play to show his worth. He’s a top ROY. You think he does that by watching. To make the argument of injuries. Is about as brainless as these Clowns waiting for him to fail all year. You think the Kings care.
We are balling here. We arent talking about scenarios. Life is what you get. Not what you hope for. You can’t hope for anything better than this for Kings and Raynaud. Thats what 22 yr olds can do in draft of 19 yr olds. Haters don’t know ball. Worse they don’t care about ball.
I never rooted for Raynaud to fail. If the Warriors drafted him, he would have spent the season in the GLeague. Raynaud was better off having been drafted by the Kings. It gave him the opportunity.
Thank you ChatGPT!
Yeah well , Two yrs into three paragraphs is pretty good. If I say so myself. And didn’t even mention you. Truth Teller
Giants74
June 27, 2025
Oh Aristotle…Have you seen Armstrong play? It is a bit presumptuous to say that he’ll got cut after the Summer Leagues. The Warriors have already had him on a 2-way contract. He has played in SC already. He’ll probably get another one.
There are lot of people who think highly of Toohey’s defense. I doubt he’ll get cut after the Summer Leagues. And there is some potential in his shot.
littlegiant DKB little fella. He tries so hard.
So sre these two guys on the team lol. Did they ever play. We just want to know …😂😂😂😂
Um…Swing and a miss. I was talking about them spending time in the GLeague. They could work on their games and maybe contribute at the end of the season.
Armstrong signed with an Euro-League team. Emirates I think. Probably a better paycheck and nice travel around Europe.
Toohey injured his knee and was out for the season.
And just for the EXCLAMATION —— Warriors passed on 42nd pick in draft. Best CENTER in draft 🫣😳
Raynaud — “ Je suis le meilleur grand de la draft”
vs — Blazers 37 mins, 29 pts, 7/10 FG, 3/4 3pt, 4/4 FT, 2 ast, 2 blk, 9 reb ….. UDKB little fellas 🤫
Now that this Dismal Season is Over, It’s time to think of Team Needs and the Draft. Not knowing where we will end up in the Draft Yet. In my opinion, Starting (Hopefully, Injury free) this is what I think Next Season’s Roster should look like : (I know it’s way too early, but here we go)
Kings Roster
——————–
1 – 6-11 PF Sabonis
2 – 6-8 SF Murray
3 – 7-1 C Raynard
4 – 6-5 SG Clifford
5 – 6-4 PG Westbrook
——————————–
6 – 6-8 PF Achiuwa
7 – 6-8 SF Hunter
8 – 7-0 C Baldwin
9 – 6-5 SG Plowden
10 – 6-4 PG Hayes
——————————–
11 – 6-10 PF Cardwell
12 – Draft Pick / FA
13 – 6-4 SG Jeffries (Resign)
14 – 6-2 PG Carter
15 – Draft Pick / FA
——————————–
16 – Draft Pick / FA
17 – Draft Pick / FA
Trade – LaVine
Trade – Monk
Trade – Derozan
Release – McDermontt
Release – Eubanks