Stanford HC says new Kings center Maxime Raynaud is ‘a steal’ & can play next to Sabonis

Stanford HC says new Kings center Maxime Raynaud is ‘a steal’ & can play next to Sabonis

[Applause] with the 42nd pick in the 2025 NBA draft the Sacramento came select Maxim Reno from Paris France and Stanford University that’s right not far away from us Maxim Reno was polishing his game and a lot of people had him on draft boards late first round certainly early second round and instead Sacramento fortunate enough to see him and draft him as the 42nd overall pick and uh really excited to see what he can be but also want to find out what he is what we know about him what his college coach knows about him and so we welcome in the head coach at the University of Stanford Stanford head men’s basketball coach Kyle Smith joining me Jason Ross kyle coach Kyle uh good morning how are you i’m doing great how are you doing doing well uh congratulations look you’ve had guys drafted before but you know part of it’s a little bit of an honor for you how was uh how was last night for you seeing uh Axen get it drafted oh it’s awesome you know the guys work so hard and where he came from to to where he is now is amazing uh and to land close to us is pretty cool um yeah I know and uh I got a former Ida Jones I coached the year before so I’m big Kings fan well we appreciate that that’s for sure uh I’m sure you’re glad you’re you coached him as opposed to coaching against him i’d like to start there what was it like when you’re at Washington State and kind of watching him develop kind of coaching against him you know it’s interesting story his uh his coach in France reached out to me before his freshman year and said “Hey Kyle do you think this is someone you’d be interested in?” And I I took about I watched about three clips and went running my assistance how come we don’t know about this guy so I kind of I had a good imp and then it took him a little while uh but going against him I just thought you could always see the the talent was there it was just a matter of uh you know him getting the experience and getting the reps and and growing and developing and and uh boy did he Yeah it sure looks like I mean statistically I mean he had just an amazing season last year led the nation in double doubles i mean you asked and got a lot from him so was last year kind of the the perfect marriage for him as far as work development confidence in his game and then production looks like you got a ton out of him last year absolutely it was a good match in the sense like I said before I tried to recruit him and then I had to coach against him and so I knew that what a good player he was and so it was there was no once he said he was staying uh and he was his attitude was awesome about it too um it was kind of match made in heaven i I love to play really skillful we we run a lot of NBA stuff what they call open or the five out stuff so he’s kind of ideal for that whether you you know want to play him like like Sabonis a little bit um you know I’m excited that he’s going to get to learn from him just being professional uh but he also can you know he can hit corner threes as a 7-1 guy he can be you know something like that i think he’s a lot like Kelly Oolen um who’s had a really nice career in the NBA so I I think you got a steal yeah there’s you know look coaches will always tell you you can’t teach size i mean just that frame 71 how did you and how does he utilize that to benefit him you know he’s just uh he uh was one of the nation’s leaders in rebounding start with that he’s got a really good net so his size he he protects the rim he’s got so that with the perimeter skills he has and then defensively be able to uh and he can move his feet too so he’s almost built you know I always say he’s like uh kind of moves like a 7 foot one tennis player it’s kind of well proportioned uh he’s got you’ll see as you get to get to know him i think he’ll get out there and he’s got really good feet um and he’s just a two-way player so he’s going to be really good yeah because you know the NBA too i’m sure you’re watching as a fan of it and you know as a coach you’re always watching what everybody’s doing and the way the league works like look at 7-1 then the other team like all right let’s get him in a switch let’s get a guard on him i mean look if you’re going against some of the best guards that’s going to be hard for anybody but how do you think if he’s put in some of those situations how he how will he adapt i think he’s better at that and that was kind of the selling point with the NBA guys and they’re concerned as they should be i said he’s he’s better on the switch uh than probably guarding you know he’s have to get stronger to guard some some real physical strong guys that’ll be as that’ll be more challenging to him but as far that’s as far as the number one thing for those bigs he can he can move his feet and then you know you can play him as a stretch five uh on offensive end so he’s putting a lot of pressure on whoever they have on that end with the pick and pop and his ability to put on the floor and and score so uh uh you know he’ll he’ll need to grow in some time there but he’s got an awesome work ethic great attitude awesome teammate um I think the I think Kings will be be impressed talking with Stanford head men’s basketball coach Kyle Smith uh you mentioned you know when when people reached out to you I’d be curious uh about the Kings if they did reach out to you and what other NBA teams kind of were looking for what kind of information and intel were they trying to get on Maxim uh you know they were obviously trying to figure out you know what if if he could defend at this level and it’s pretty obviously scored i think he’s a you know his he has a very wellestablished resume but he I think he’s the only guy that’s averaged 20110 and over made over 53s at this level since Kevin Durant so there wasn’t a lot in his his character is kind of impeachable he’s a computer science ma major math minor uh he’s got a great charisma he’s a wonderful guy uh I didn’t have anything negative to say about them so I I didn’t know where they were going um and then but I whatever and I said I’ve had I coached Sacramento’s own Jaylen Wells and I was like he’s all a Jaylen uh you know so and I had Mohamed Gay the year before and they all three got drafted in that same area the last two overproduced um they have 102 starts from you know second round so I feel really confident that that Maxim is is as good or better than those guys you know when the Kings traded up to get into the first round I thought personally that this might be someone they would be looking at at 24 they took Nate Clifford which a lot of people are excited about and then when knowing they were at 42nd I thought “Oh man I don’t I don’t think there’s a chance they could get Maxim.” I’m personally surprised he was there how about you are you surprised that he was at 42 yeah to be honest because uh just the activity like Orlando Phoenix Indiana Brooklyn a lot of they were they were really in that I I thought it was be 20 to 40 and literally 10 days before I would have said 20 to 28 you know I would have thought pretty confident and and then yeah we were a little little surprised and you know that positional size what he is you know people started look like you know people had different needs and that’s why getting the second round it seemed like a lot of wings were coming off the board there and uh you know but uh it it doesn’t matter now he’ll have an opportunity and he’ll have to make you got you got to earn your way anyway it would have been nice to get that that first round status but but uh he’s a worker and he’ll prove himself so when you coached other guys like you mentioned between Isaac Jones who we know here and Jaylen Wells like you said those guys have have done some nice things to get you know Wells had a phenomenal season this year did you kind of know all along when you arrived at Stanford like “Yeah I’m this guy’s going to be in the NBA.” I Yes yes i really felt uh it was excitement that uh I was like “This guy should make it.” And and and the first thing you have to have usually is positional size and he’s oversized he’s really an oversized foreman uh and so you got that he’s very skilled and then he’s high character really intelligent uh and just still you know he hasn’t played that much basketball comparatively some of those guys i mean he’s uh you know he played in in France he didn’t play in incept uh but he’s had some national team experiences he’s really the same age as Victor Wbeayama um so I I think yeah I think there’s really bright future here and the whole thing about you know drafting a player is you know you get them in your system you want them to grow and and people talk a lot about ceilings and floors so I mean look it’s it’s all going to be on him and the Kings and how they they groom him but h What do you envision you know a potential ceiling could be for for Maxine well I I think you know I think they’ll realize that uh I think he’s a potential starter i mean not necessarily first year but I think he just can be because I do think his size he can defend and he’s super skilled i do think somewhere that’s a that’s a possible i think he he’d be he’d be a great if he makes it to what he can do i think he’d be a great fourth or fifth option floor spacer out there all the time and that’ll be you know the strength and conditioning and and investment there and defensively and and that like I said he’s got he’s got some Lithuanians there that can bring him along you know that that kind of grip that they have yeah uh you know so I I like I said I think I think he now I do think he can get on the floor and be a stretch five and as a rookie is sometimes I think he’ll be able to get out there because he just I know as a coach I’m sure coach Christie feels the same way when you all that shooting out there you don’t have to call plays anymore yeah and you think becomes a little easier yeah and you think coach you mentioned him earlier but you think he could like get spend minutes and reps and rotation time with with Sabonis on the floor together absolutely absolutely but it probably stick Maxim in the corner and let let Sabonis wheel and deal yeah you know the same thing floor spacer a little more side help on the rebounding front um you know if if if uh if the NBA teams I think they’re starting to get back there and play two bigs and put those and run some high low stuff and horns action with those two would be awesome i really think that because and uh Sabonis is used to doing that from collegees little time in Gonzaga they they run as well as anybody that uh you know maybe I’m making a little plug for plug the Sacramento coaches like hey I said the same thing with Isaac I said Isaac’s one of those he’s a four or five as well that’s super skilled and they play him at the four and put him in the corner or you know he’s undersized center and I’m like I’m like put both those guys out there you know it’ll be okay I I even saw somewhere where you said uh and last thing with you coach that you said uh look he he blocked shots but he could probably block more you were kind of protecting him because you needed him on the floor you kind of say “Hey don’t go for as many of these.” No he was not allowed to try to block shots that’s what I said but the same thing with Mohamd Gay we had him at and everyone’s like “He doesn’t.” I said “Bike we could not function with him on the floor.” And actually by the end of season got pretty good where he’s because he’s so good and he has such good feet if he actually stays on the ground he’s got good he actually guys will shoot in his hand more than just the the recovery blocks and stuff like that but uh uh no I think the Kings Kings got a steal ah well we are looking forward to it congratulations to you coach i know there’s a pride in that for you at Stanford and uh now we know we’re definitely going to see you around at some games i look forward to that too uh thanks for joining us and uh best of luck all right thank you very much all right appreciate it that’s the head coach at Stanford Kyle Smith well look I mean obviously the coach is going to say some pretty uh encouraging things but I I like what I heard there did you like what you heard heard there from him let us know 916 339140 1800 920140

Stanford head coach Kyle Smith joined The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross to share insight on the Sacramento Kings’ 42nd overall pick Maxime Raynaud, give fans an idea of what to expect from the rookie center, and much more.

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