The final Kia Rookie Ladder of 2025 dropped on New Year’s Eve and was headed up by the usual suspects. Once again, the exemplary performance of Sacramento Kings’ rookie Maxime Raynaud has earned him the number eight spot on the list. And making the top five isn’t out of the question.
After being drafted deep in 2025’s second round, there wasn’t much fanfare. Maxime was a good prospect, but not one that anyone was really talking about. The Kings’ drafting Nique Clifford was bigger news as he was considered by some to be the steal of the draft. He is still that.
But Raynaud has shown up in a big way. He has taken over as the Kings’ starting center in the absence of Domantas Sabonis. Fans are watching his confidence grow by leaps and bounds as he faces some of the biggest names in the game and puts out admirable performances each time.
Maxime Raynaud’s big December
Being that he was the starting center in place of Sabonis, December was Raynaud’s coming-out party. He scored double digits in 10 out of twelve games, and picked up six double-doubles. He also has two games over 20 points, one of which was a career high of 29 points scored.
For the month of December, Raynaud was averaging 15.5 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game. If that growth continues, he could easily be averaging a double-double by the end of January.
His field goal percentage was respectable, as well, sitting at 57.6% for the entire month.
Raynaud has also shown significant growth as a defender. In December, he averaged 0.8 blocks per game and 0.6 steals per game. Naturally, it would be nice to see those numbers higher, particularly blocks, but they are improvements over where he was in October.
Raynaud in the Rookie of the Year race
For the last couple of Kia Rooke Ladder lists, Raynaud has been holding the eighth spot down. Given his rapid progression, steady numbers, and starting position on the roster, that makes sense. If he continues to improve in 2026, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him continue climbing the ladder.
The likelihood of him winning Rookie of the Year is highly improbable. Currently, the top three names on the list are Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and VJ Edgecombe, and getting past them will be difficult at best. Raynaud’s improvement would have to be drastic to make that big a leap.
Again, it’s not impossible for Raynaud to win ROTY, just highly improbable. What’s impressive is the ROTY caliber performance he gave Sactown fans throughout December. It’s likely his improvement will continue, and he will impress the entire NBA even further.
