NBA
Kings Fear Serious Knee Injury for Maxime Raynaud After Wheelchair Exit vs Warriors
The Sacramento Kings are holding their breath. Center Maxime Raynaud suffered an apparently serious right knee injury in the second quarter of Saturday night's preseason game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center, and the scene was as bad as it gets. With 2:32 left before halftime, the 7-foot-1 center set a screen for teammate Darius Acuff Jr. on Stephen Curry. As they collided, Raynaud yelled in pain and crumpled to the floor. Medical staff examined him on the court, helped him up, put him in a wheelchair and took him to the locker room. He did not return.
The Kings ran tests on the knee at Chase Center during halftime, including time in the X-ray room, then announced in the third quarter that Raynaud was out for the rest of the game. Sacramento had no update on the injury after the final buzzer of the 111-106 Warriors win. Raynaud told reporters he was set to undergo an MRI late Saturday, and he was seen leaving the arena on crutches, per reports. Until those results come back, everything is fear and no answers.
This one stings because of who Raynaud has become. The 23-year-old Paris native was Sacramento's second-round pick out of Stanford in the 2025 draft, and he outplayed that slot immediately. As a rookie he averaged 12.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 26.5 minutes across 74 games with 56 starts, earning All-Rookie second team honors. On Saturday, before the injury, he had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block in just nine minutes, a perfect 3-for-3 from the field. He looked like a second-year leap in progress. Then one screen changed everything.
The Kings open the regular season in less than two weeks, and their frontcourt depth behind Raynaud is about to be tested in the worst way. A serious knee injury here does not just cost Sacramento games in October. It costs a 23-year-old center the momentum of a breakout season before it starts. The MRI will tell the story. Kings fans should brace for the worst and hope for the best.
What it means
Preseason injuries are the cruelest kind because they steal a season before it begins. Raynaud went from second-round steal to foundational piece in one year, and the Kings built their frontcourt plans around his leap. If the MRI confirms the worst, Sacramento is suddenly thin up front and a young career hits a brutal detour. If it is somehow minor, the wheelchair exit will go down as the scariest false alarm of the preseason. Either way, this is the injury the entire league will be watching for Monday morning.
Key Facts
- Injury: Right knee, suffered setting a screen on Stephen Curry with 2:32 left in the second quarter.
- Scene: Yelled in pain, crumpled to the floor, examined on court, wheeled to the locker room.
- Status: Ruled out for the rest of the game in the third quarter. Left the arena on crutches.
- Next step: MRI set for late Saturday. No official update from the Kings yet.
- Saturday line: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block in 9 minutes. 3-for-3 from the field.
- Background: 23 years old, 7-foot-1, Paris native. Second-round pick out of Stanford in 2025.
- Rookie year: 12.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 26.5 minutes, 74 games (56 starts). All-Rookie second team.
- Final: Warriors 111, Kings 106 in preseason.
VIA Field Level Media and Reuters. No official severity or timeline confirmed pending MRI results.