By admin 
For a few tense minutes Saturday night, it looked like Sacramento’s frontcourt depth had taken a devastating hit before the season even started.
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Kings center Maxime Raynaud went down in obvious pain during the second quarter of a preseason loss to Golden State, grabbing his right knee immediately after setting a screen for rookie guard Darius Acuff.
He was examined on the court, helped into a wheelchair and taken to the locker room, unable to put weight on the leg.
By Sunday, the news was considerably better than the scene suggested. An MRI revealed a right patellar subluxation rather than a torn ligament, and the team said Raynaud will be reevaluated in approximately two weeks.
Kings general manager Scott Perry struck an optimistic tone afterward, telling reporters simply, “he’ll be back.” Team owner Vivek Ranadive visited Raynaud outside the locker room and gave him a hug, according to the Associated Press.
The injury had looked far more serious in the moment. Head coach Doug Christie called an immediate timeout and walked to midcourt to check on his center, who had his hands over his face.
Teammates gathered around as medical staff brought out the wheelchair, and Raynaud was later seen leaving the arena on crutches with an ice bag wrapped around the knee.
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Raynaud’s role in Sacramento
Raynaud, 23, had broken out as a key frontcourt piece for Sacramento last season, raising his averages to 17.3 points and 9.2 rebounds after the All-Star break. He’s expected to serve as the primary backup to starting center Domantas Sabonis once healthy, giving Sacramento a real one-two punch at the position.
In the meantime, Christie will lean more heavily on Precious Achiuwa and Dylan Cardwell for reserve minutes up front.
The two-week reevaluation window means Raynaud is almost certain to miss Sacramento’s regular-season opener, and likely several games beyond it, depending on how the knee responds.
The Kings still have two preseason games left to figure out their rotation without him, a test made tougher by the fact that Sabonis himself has also been managing a knee issue of his own this preseason.
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This story was originally published October 14, 2026 at 5:03 AM.