Kings Lose Maxime Raynaud to Knee Injury: Week 1 Survivor Impact

Raynaud goes down in preseason

Sacramento took a hit Saturday night. Second-year center Maxime Raynaud suffered what looked like a serious right knee injury in the Kings' preseason game against the Warriors. The team hasn't confirmed a timeline, but the early read was ominous — enough to factor into how you weigh Sacramento in the opening week.

What it means for your Week 1 survivor pick

This is less a reason to pick against the Kings and more a reason to think carefully before picking on them. Sacramento opens Week 1 at the Clippers, where LAC is favored by 4.5, before hosting Portland on Oct. 24. Backing a thinner Kings frontcourt as road underdogs against LAC is already a tough survivor ask, and an interior injury only deepens the risk. If you're eyeing Sacramento at all, the home date with Portland is the cleaner spot — but monitor Raynaud's status and the rest of the Kings' rotation before committing.

The flip side: Golden State and the Clippers sit on the favorable end of these matchups. The Lakers open as 5.5-point favorites over the Warriors, and LAC is laid as the home chalk versus Sacramento — both worth a look if you want a safer play. As always in survivor, the goal is to survive the week, not to be clever. Work through the full slate on our NBA knockout pool picks page, and if you haven't locked in yet, start a free survivor pool before tip-off.