While the Sacramento Kings' rebuild process has suffered from payroll limitations, it's impossible to deny how well Scott Perry has done in the draft. Unfortunately for Nique Clifford, that means he has to make a splash in his second season before he is usurped by Alex Karaban and Emanuel Sharp.
The Kings got Clifford 24th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft after trading with the OKC Thunder for his rights. Sacramento gave up a first-round pick in 2027 for Clifford, so they were pretty serious about adding him to the roster. At the time, some people speculated that he might be the steal of the draft.
Things didn't work out quite that well. Clifford, who plays both shooting guard and small forward, had trouble acclimating to the NBA. The main problem seemed to be his aggression. As such, Doug Christie focused on getting him to increase the number of three-point shots he was taking.
It worked to an extent, and Clifford did make real improvements towards the end of the season. Part of the problem was that fellow rookies Dylan Cardwell and Maxime Raynaud blew past him. Both became fan favorites and caught the attention of the entire league. Clifford really didn't compare.
Clifford has more competition on the Kings this season
With just the veterans on the team, Clifford already had to work to find minutes. This was especially true at shooting guard, where the Kings have long had logjam issues. The glut of injuries last season gave Clifford an opportunity to get on the court and develop his skills a bit.
The problem this coming season is that all of those injured players are back. On top of that, the Kings have a pair of new rookies in Karaban and Sharp who will be looking for minutes at the same positions. And if Clifford can't make a case for himself quickly, he's going to lose time to them.
That means taking advantage of every opportunity he gets, particularly from three as well as on defense. Those are the areas the Kings were looking for real impact from Clifford in. Both Karaban and Sharp are respected for their three-point shooting and defense. So, the Kings have options.
In reality, that's Clifford's biggest problem going into 2026-2027. He got bigger minutes on the court during the Kings' run of injuries because they lacked options. It's a different world this year. Clifford has to prove himself both quickly and consistently to maintain the spot he worked for.
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