Precious Achiuwa said the Sacramento Kings have to find Zach LaVine early and get Darius Acuff Jr. involved right away before Wednesday night’s season opener, a sign the team is already defining how its newest and returning pieces will fit together. After a year shaped by injuries, Sacramento is opening this season with more of its core available and a clearer expectation that the ball movement has to start fast.
That is why Achiuwa’s comments land now. Last season, the Kings were hit hard when Keegan Murray, Domantas Sabonis and LaVine missed time, and the team spent much of the year searching for stability. Achiuwa, who signed a veteran minimum deal and became a high-energy bench piece for Doug Christie, put up a career-best 10.1 points and 6.7 rebounds a game while the roster was stretched thin.
He was also asked to carry more on offense than he normally would. Achiuwa finished the season with a two-year deal worth $11.2 million after averaging over 15 points per game in April for the second straight month and then scoring 27 in the final game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Even so, he made clear before the opener that scoring is not where he sees his value. “For me, I don’t really care offensively,” he said. “It’s just my job here is to make these guys better…”
That role now becomes harder to define because the Kings do not need the same emergency version of Achiuwa anymore. With key scorers back, he should not have to force shots the way he did during the injury-riddled stretch, and Ben Simmons’ season-ending Achilles injury also changes how much defensive work can be spread around inside the rotation. In that sense, Achiuwa’s job is simple and complicated at the same time: defend, rebound, and keep the offense organized while LaVine and Darius Acuff Jr. get rolling early.
Christie’s view of him helps explain why Sacramento kept him around. The coach said Achiuwa is coachable, a pleasure to coach, and someone who wants to win and is about the team. That is the kind of player the Kings can lean on when the season starts to tighten, but the larger question is how much of Achiuwa’s selfless game they will ask for now that the roster is healthier. The opener will offer the first real answer, and it will show whether Sacramento can turn last season’s survival mode into something more stable.
