Could Nique Clifford Be the Unseen Game-Changer of the 2025 NBA Draft?

Nique Clifford’s breakout showing at the NBA Summer League has got the basketball world buzzing—could this 24-year-old rookie guard be the Sacramento Kings’ sleeper hit of the 2025 draft? After a sparkling college season where he proved he’s no one-trick pony, Clifford’s blend of size, skill, and smarts has everyone asking: just how far can this 6-foot-6 dynamo rise? With a game as balanced as a tightrope walk, and shooting percentages that snap headlines, he’s tempting fate and fans alike. But the age factor and shooting consistency cast a shadow that makes me wonder—will Clifford’s NBA journey be a Cinderella story or a cautionary tale? One thing’s for sure: the Kings might just have snagged a gem that’ll make us all eat our words. LEARN MORE.

Nique Clifford showed his potential during the NBA Summer League after a great 2024-25 college season. How good can the rookie guard be for the Sacramento Kings?

After his recent selection to the NBA All-Summer League First Team, everyone is talking about the Sacramento Kings’ first-round draft pick, Nique Clifford.

In six games, the 6-foot-6 guard from Colorado State averaged 15.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game on 49.3% shooting from the floor, including 45.8% on 3-pointers.

His performance has many folks wondering if the player selected 24th in the 2025 NBA Draft will end up being the biggest steal of his class.

Strengths

Clifford should be viewed as a high-floor prospect because he’s already a pretty good basketball player. Last season, Clifford had the 10th-best WAR – our all-inclusive stat that measures how much value a player has produced – among Division I players.

The beauty of Clifford’s game is that he’s incredibly balanced. His Offensive VAPR and Defensive VAPR, which measure his impact on each side of the ball, both placed in the top 65 of all Division I players.

This is emblematic of what his role projects to be in the NBA. With a 6-8 wingspan, Clifford has the size and athleticism to be a positive defensive wing at the next level. His steal and block rates both ranked in the 61st percentile in the Mountain West Conference, which is evidence of his ability to create turnovers and provide secondary rim protection.

Clifford also has a little bit of Josh Hart in him in his ability to punctuate defensive possessions with a rebound. Despite being listed as a shooting guard, Clifford finished second in the MWC in defensive rebounding percentage. 

All these skills point to Clifford having the ability to be a 3-and-D role player at the next level (he shot 37.7% on 3-s last season). But part of what makes him so fascinating is Clifford’s ability to score for himself and create for others. 

Clifford led Colorado State in scoring at 18.9 PPG and it certainly wasn’t all through assisted field goals (he also led the team in assists). His game is littered with a DeMar DeRozan-like blend of pivots, jabs and spins. From there, Clifford can get buckets in the midrange or use his broad frame to wrestle his way to the rim. 

In terms of passing, his vocabulary is just as broad. Laydown passes after dribble penetration, skips to perimeter shooters, needle threads to surging cutters, none of these deliveries are out of his wheelhouse. 

To be fair, anyone can look good with the right clip mix. But we know Clifford was effective as a lead scorer and creator because he was efficient in both roles, placing in the 94th percentile in true shooting and 89th percentile in assist rate.

Weaknesses

One of the reasons Clifford was so good as a college player last season was because he was in his fifth year of collegiate hoops. By the time the 2025-26 NBA campaign rolls around, Clifford will be nearly 24 years old. 

Age can sometimes be overstated when discussing draft prospects. Over the years, we’ve had numerous “older” rookies (Jalen Brunson, Draymond Green and Andrew Nembhard, to name a few) go on to have great NBA careers. Clifford very well could be one of those players. 

But even then, it’s hard to imagine Clifford getting much better than he is right now. The question now becomes: How much of what he was in college will translate at the NBA level?

We made a quick note about Clifford’s 3-point shooting. He was above average last season on good volume (4.9 3s per game). Unfortunately, that hasn’t always been the case for him.

In 2023-24, Clifford shot 37.6% on 3s, but that was on just three attempts per game. The season before, Clifford shot just 28.8% on 2.1 attempts per game. Clifford’s free throw indicators aren’t all that promising, either. In five seasons, Clifford shot just 72.4% from the line on 366 total attempts. 

What if Clifford hasn’t evolved into an above-average shooter and last season was just an aberration? An older prospect who is a sound defender with good footwork and midrange touch sounds a lot like Jaime Jaquez Jr., who started off his NBA career on a high note while being named to the All-Rookie First Team in 2023-24. But last season saw a major fall from grace for the UCLA prospect (he was in just the fifth percentile in DELTA, which measures his change in DRIP), likely because he peaked as a player and the league caught on to his tendencies. 

For where they drafted him, the Kings can’t be mad if Clifford ends up being a similar type of NBA player to Jaquez. But what happens if Clifford’s moves aren’t crisp enough to generate separation or his midrange calibration gets thrown off against taller defenders? 

If that happens, Clifford becomes like the numerous other wings/forwards who are positives on defense but kill their teams on offense (Josh Okogie, for example). In that instance, Clifford could be valuable as a back-end rotation player in the regular season, but he wouldn’t be very useful in the postseason. 

The Bottom Line

That last scenario we outlined is more of a doomsday situation than a realistic outcome. Based on what Clifford has already flashed at Colorado State and the NBA Summer League, Jaquez’s sophomore season is a pretty reasonable floor for him. 

But if Clifford’s jumper really has improved and his ball skills are at a high enough level in which he can be an efficient secondary scorer/playmaker against NBA defenses, a new door of possibilities opens up for him and the Kings. 

Some folks have gone as far as to compare him to All-NBA forward Jalen Williams. While Williams is longer (7-2 wingspan) and more athletic, the two aren’t that far off as players. Like Clifford, Williams was a versatile two-way player who was already really good when he got to the NBA but overlooked because of his age and the fact that he played in a non-power conference. 

Williams ended up being the steal of the 2022 NBA Draft, and it isn’t too hard to envision Clifford doing the same thing this coming season.

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