It’s been an up-and-down season for the Sacramento Kings lone 2025 first-rounder. But as their season winds down, they own the worst record in the NBA (14-48), and head coach Doug Christie and general manager Scott Perry agree that their final stretch is best spent giving their young talents extended repetitions.
Through 58 games in his rookie season, Nique Clifford is averaging 7.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while shooting 40.7 percent from the field, 32.1 percent from three, and 72.7 percent on free throws.
While he’s been inconsistent, as to be expected for a late first-round pick, the 24th overall pick has put together two true standout games. He tallied 30 points, four assists, four rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in a close loss to the Cavaliers in a game that featured James Harden’s Cleveland debut in early January.
The other came during the Kings’ last showing, a Sunday night road matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers. The 6’5 wing was calmly running the pick-and-roll, often with fellow rookie Maxime Raynaud. It was the pace of his play that stood out most as he appears to be growing comfortable with more NBA minutes.
Despite the blowout loss, he was the clear bright spot for Sacramento with 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Perhaps most impressively was the fact that he did it while shooting 11-for-18 from the field.
Following the game, Clifford credited his pick-and-roll improvement to making the simple plays.
“Just trying to simplify, make the easiest read, whether that’s a play for myself to score or a play for my teammate,” he said. “But I think for me, just being aggressive and attacking downhill, making a big have to step up or play two. That’s been something I’ve been working on and trying to help add that so I can benefit our team.”
That was clearly on display in his performance. Fittingly, it came against LeBron James and Luka Doncic, two of the best pick-and-roll players in the entire league. While acknowledging the surreal nature of matching up against James specifically, who was drafted when Clifford was just two years old, he said that simplistic style is how those players have made their significant impacts, and that he’s looked to learn from it.
“Their game is simple,” Clifford said of James and Doncic. “They get to their spots, they make the right plays. They make the right read almost every time, and that’s the level I want to get to.”
“But, you know, getting to go against guys like that, you see how consistent they are on a daily basis with their routines, with, you know, their play every single night, you don’t get mostly the same thing every single night. So that’s something I got to get to. But going against guys like that has helped me learn and grow.”
Of course, with how much nuance there is to basketball at the highest level, it’s more complicated than the rookie makes it sound. But not adding to the complication can significantly help the process.
Christie, who played 15 seasons himself, backed Clifford’s keep-it-simple mindset while outlining how difficult it can be to do so.
“The first thing that he needs to understand is when he comes off to pick and roll, you’ve got to come off with aggression and speed, looking to score,” Christie said before explaining how that can successfully engage the second defender.
“You must engage the second defender, because when you have a roller, that roller engages the low man,” he continued. “Now you’ve got a single side tag, not always, but sometimes, and he can make that play. So he can make the shot coming off, which you’ve got to punch them in the face first. He can also get downhill, and he can make that pass, and then he can also make the skip pass. So for him, it’s just that simple.”
Again, simple is obviously a relative term. That may not sound so simple to casual NBA fans, but for NBA players, those are the “simple” reads all taking place within seconds.
“Now, when you get out there, trust me, it’s not that simple,” Christie said. “But you’ve seen him, and we’ve seen him make those reads, and now he’s just got to get these reps in and get it against the best players in the world, and then the game becomes easier and a bit slower.”
The head coach said he saw those reads from Clifford back in the Summer League. Now, he’s starting to show it more often at the NBA-level, a welcome development for a Sacramento team that desperately needs more bright spots.
As mentioned, the rookie wing has been inconsistent in showing that, but there are still 20 more games where he’s expected to receive plenty more opportunities to grow more comfortable in those moments.
More Sacramento Kings content from Sactown Sports
When is the next Sacramento Kings game?
The Sacramento Kings will begin a five-game homestand on Tuesday night when they face the Phoenix Suns at Golden 1 Center.
Sacramento will play nine of the next 10 games at home, starting with a matchup against a Suns team looking to complete a four-game regular-season series sweep of the Kings.
Be sure to catch all of the Sacramento Kings vs. Phoenix Suns action right here on Sactown Sports 1140 AM, with pregame coverage beginning at 2:00 PM PT on The Drive Guys before an 8:00 pm PT tip-off from downtown Sacramento.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season
Tuesday, March 3rd vs. Phoenix Suns – 8:00 PM PT
Thursday, March 5th vs. New Orleans Pelicans – 7:00 PM PT
Sunday, March 8th vs. Chicago Bulls – 6:00 PM PT
Tuesday, March 10th vs. Indiana Pacers – 7:00 PM PT
Wednesday, March 11th vs. Charlotte Hornets – 7:00 PM PT
Thank you for readingSactownSports.com. Follow us onTwitterandGoogle News, and subscribe to ourYouTubechannel.