During the 2025 NBA draft, the Sacramento Kings picked up Nique Clifford. While he took some time to find his footing in the league, he's now playing with the two things the Kings desperately need from him. That's aggression and confidence, as evidenced by his play over the last few games.
Clifford is a small forward who played for the University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado State University. Sacramento drafted him 24th overall in the first round of the 2025 draft with big expectations and a lot of hope for him to be a difference maker for the Kings.
The 2025-2026 season got off to a rough start for Clifford, though the same is true of the entire Kings' roster. He initially struggled to find regular minutes. On top of that, other rookies like Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell found their game in the NBA much quicker.
As is often the case for rookies, Clifford has the skill and the ability to be in the NBA. He just needed time to build his confidence and find some aggression in his game. That has changed as the season has progressed, and Clifford has become the player the Kings were looking for in the draft.
Nique Clifford is getting more confident, incredibly quickly
In the past five games, Clifford has scored in the double digits in four of them. Most recently against the Cavs, he led the Kings with a career-high 30 points. Beyond that, he collected four rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and two steals in 40 minutes. It was his best performance, period.
While it was also a loss, he was also impressive in the Kings' previous game against the Clippers. He played 33 minutes, scoring 16 points while also finishing with two rebounds, two assists, one block, and two steals. His improvement over even two or three weeks ago has become apparent.
This is the player the Kings drafted. Nique is slowly becoming a major offensive threat, not to mention a leader on defense. Alongside fellow rookies and young stars, Clifford is already proving to be the future of this franchise. How the Kings continue to develop him will make a huge difference.
The roster is still stacked with players fighting for time on the court. As long as Sacramento maintains their focus on growing him in preparation for the future, Clifford will be a great player. Given how much he has evolved in such a short period of time, it's hard not to see a bright future for him.