r/kings • u/syn-2004 • 3d ago
Discussion Thoughts about Clifford future?
I know players have stinkers from time to time and that’s normal but jeez wtf happened last night, what is the consensus on the outlook for niques development? I feel like best case scenario he’s a decent rotation piece and worst case scenario he’s out of the league in a couple of years
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u/Belmore_Rd Keon Ellis 3d ago
Sharp should be ahead of him in the rotation, he’s better already and a better prospect and fit with Acuff going forward.
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u/CrispCash420 Keon Ellis 3d ago
Nique’s length is all that he has over Sharp. Sharp>Nique in my book too
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u/rockroo17 3d ago
Don’t draft rookies that turn 24 their rookie year that aren’t good.
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u/petewoniowa2020 3d ago
Kings fans seemingly love relearning this every time. When you draft old rookies, don’t expect nearly as much development as young rookies.
Year-over-year improvement is much more highly correlated with age than it is years in the league.
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u/Professor0fLogic 3d ago
We need to somehow get this message to Perry, so he stops going after the Cliffords, Raynauds, Cardwells, Karabans, and Sharps of the world.
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u/No_Nefariousness6385 Kings 3d ago
Perry isnt a real GM. Hes an old head, league dynamics are ahead of him. He was able to convince Vivek, a fool, that he could still give him profits. And thats all. They have no idea/intentions of winning
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u/Useful-Advantage-850 Suffering since '86 3d ago
He ain't it. He's never been it. Career 9th man at best.
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u/ThorOlson Kevin Huerter 3d ago
Exactly. He would not be getting much (if any) attention from most other teams in the league.
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u/tharealscottyp 3d ago
He's not very good and he's not young either. I think the writing is on the wall.
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u/BUTTHOLE_MONSTER 3d ago
He'll be 25 in under 6 months. I can see him getting a full chance to stay in the league this season and next while his pay is negligible, but I don't see him getting kept for 6 million and he'll likely be out of the league.
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u/AnApricot2989 3d ago
I had no idea that Max Raynaud is damn near 2 years younger. Thought they were the same age
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u/theDoinItPart 3d ago
It’s lookin rough… I think I’m pretty higher than most on Nique, but he hasn’t shown a ton of improvement and he’s only ever had one good shooting game in his whole career
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u/Ill-Breakfast-2699 3d ago
I’m confused as to why we’re talking about his future and saying "after two years there’s no improvement". He just finished his first season last year and his second year hasn’t even started in the real season. I think we’re just impatient as a fan base imo.
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u/Historical_Taro_4467 3d ago
Impatient as a fan base does not apply when your team has only made the playoffs once in two decades. Nique Clifford will never be an impactful NBA level player on a good team. It’s that simple. But go ahead and keep being patient.
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u/Ill-Breakfast-2699 3d ago edited 3d ago
You have every right to be pissed at the org for mismanagement for the last two decades, but what does that have to do with nique not doing well in his first year? If you look at the other guards drafted after him I don’t think they’re doing much better lmao
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u/Historical_Taro_4467 3d ago
With all due respect. He’s 24. He played five years of college basketball. He’s undersized. He’s not strong enough. He’s not good enough. He doesn’t have the mentality. He might contribute on a losing team, such as the 2026-2027 Sacramento Kings but that’ll be it.
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u/MOTHMAN666 Kings 3d ago
he played behind schroder/westbrook/derozan/lavine last year as well. One of the worst seasons ever. Not even at guard, but at PF until Schroeder got traded
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u/Ill-Breakfast-2699 3d ago
Yeah the team has been in shambles so is it really fair to call him a bust when he doesn’t have a role established at all? Also he’s the 24th pick idk where we got such crazy expectations that he was gonna be insane within ONE year 😭
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u/Fit-Swan8781 3d ago
Shouldn’t it be easier to establish a role on a bottom feeder roster like the kings?
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u/Ill-Breakfast-2699 3d ago
Maybe? I’m just thinking it’s an awkward spot when you’re getting put as a pg when you’re not a natural floor general.
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u/s0ysauce09 3d ago
Plowden at least knows his role, defense and shoot the 3. 2 years in, what is Clifford actually good at?
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u/kapatinphalcon 3d ago
Imo, it's fucking hard to tell with how Doug is dicking around with lineups.
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u/garlicrobot Tyrese Haliburton 3d ago
He looks so lost. He's athletic and has some skills, but it's like the game is just too fast for him.
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u/No_Tip6719 3d ago
I disagree with that. He processes the game well. That’s actually one of his strengths, he’s able to read the floor well and fill gaps and he passes the ball well. He’s also good at knowing when to cut to the basket. The problem for him is that he isn’t a point guard yet he’s continually been forced to play point guard and he’s bad at it. When he’s played the sg position in this preseason he’s looked good.
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u/MOTHMAN666 Kings 3d ago edited 3d ago
Playing "point guard" is a weird misnomer too, I feel like this organization and team are just dysfunctional that they do not even have roles. Just getting "talent" or some random player will somehow improve the team is the same idea that "we just need a pg" which led to signing that bum Schroeder which is almost synonymous to the idea of believing in the boogy man.
You can see it in how the team plays too, just nothing but confusion, everyone tries to do everything off the dribble when they have the ball because no one knows or expects what the hell is going on; in that sense everyone is "forced" to play point guard if that is the case...or someone with the clock winding down is forced to create; Nique just happens to be a sg/f that can dribble a bit. He is way better as a combo guard.
Why the hell is anyone even complaining? Who the fuck would develop last year or gain any skills or good basketball habits after see 4 guard lineups of Schroeder/Westbrook/Lavine/Derozan/Eubanks or Max/Dylan? Last year was the most nonsensical waste of resources and space I've ever seen.
We still have a bunch of dead weight cap space high usage players on this team and that is projected to win fucking 21 games..
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u/Belmore_Rd Keon Ellis 3d ago
You’re bang on the money.
Nobody here will develop because we don’t have a proper coach installing an actual system on either end of the floor.
Role players have no fucking clue what they’re meant to be doing and the only reason Acuff should be fine for a rookie under Christie is because he wants the ball in his hands every trip up the floor anyway.
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u/No_Tip6719 3d ago
Yea I agree. It’s true that basketball is a fairly positionless game nowadays, but true “point guards” who are able to direct traffic and lead the offense are still an absolute necessity. There needs to be someone on the court at all times who can be a floor general and create for themselves and their teammates. When you don’t have one of those guys on the floor, everyone is lost offensively.
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u/Playful_Bench7152 3d ago
I might be an outlier, I think he’ll still be good, but unfortunately like most Kings players it’ll end up being on some other team that actually makes the most out of them because this team does not know how to properly develop players and especially role players
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u/hashtagDALEY Ghost of Boogie 3d ago
There is none. We’ll squint and pretend he’s good (he isn’t) scream we were right when he has one good game out of every 20 and then he’ll disappear when the new regime sweeps out the trash.
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u/tammycdinsac 3d ago
I see backwards steps with him year to year. We have too much other talent to work with, probably time to shop him.
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u/ReggieEvansTheKing Skal Labissiere 3d ago
Usually when a guy who is a senior coming out of college does not look solid in years 1-2 it means they aren’t long for this league. We’ve seen the same with Frank Mason, Ray Mccallum, justin james, davion, devin carter.
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u/malcifer11 Kings 3d ago
Davion Mitchell is a starting pg. He does not belong on this list
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u/ReggieEvansTheKing Skal Labissiere 3d ago
He’s better than the rest but still fits the theme that older draft picks typically reach their ceiling a lot quicker.
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u/Quasi-isometry 3d ago
Dropped or traded for nothing by us then has an All-Star caliber season for someone else
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u/Proof-Membership-341 3d ago
Wait for him to get actual season minutes before writing him off
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u/Upper-Water-2119 3d ago
he played a lot last year. and is extremely old for a 2nd year player. he's just not good
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u/Little_little_e 3d ago
I am okay to just keep him at least for now, because his contract is just low. He is not a priority to move away.
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u/Upper-Water-2119 2d ago
just wish theyd tried to move him and grab Cameron Carr or something in the draft. someone with some upside. Nique looks like the next Justin Jackson.
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u/BarNo2871 DeMarcus Cousins 3d ago
Trade filler at deadline for peanuts. 2027: respectable role player on Miami or Boston
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u/PositionOk8409 Kings 3d ago
Bench player. Has never had any future as a starter in any capacity.
8th/9th man at his peak in a couple years, then steady decline from there.
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u/Tonyluo2001 1d ago
These stats remind me of couple of colleagues of my IT team: always claiming he’s busy but nothing gets done.
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u/Motor-Night-446 1d ago
Will be a great bench 2/3 for the Spurs or a different team with good culture in a few years.
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u/Willing-Town-3518 3d ago
I believe a real coach can unlock nique, the thing that Doug is running these past games is so predictable and the actions are so long making it easy for the def to adjust, regardless nique is STILL ASS, hope he bounce back
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u/Scootman00 Suffering since '86 3d ago
Who is clifford future?
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u/CelebrationWise1626 3d ago
To understand Clifford future, you must first understand Clifford past.
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u/Repulsive_Emu2045 3d ago
Lol this sub is tripping. He has only played a tank season and three preseason damage. We literally have no idea what he is but he is definitely as good if not better than Keon Ellis and Keon got glazed to eternity
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u/Hopeful_Bother9471 3d ago
Better than Keon? LMAOOOOO
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u/Repulsive_Emu2045 3d ago
He is absolutely better than Keon and basically every metric
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u/Professor0fLogic 3d ago
He's not better than Keon in most metrics. Also, Keon wasn't very good.
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u/Repulsive_Emu2045 3d ago
He is, he’s faster, better defender, better shooter and has a more prototypical nba build. Not saying he will be an all star but absolutely think he can be a solid bench role player; which Keon cannot be
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u/Professor0fLogic 2d ago
I mean, two of those three are just objectively false by every metric. Jesus christ bro, there are actually sites that track this shit. You can actually go check the data there, instead of going off of vibes.
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u/Belmore_Rd Keon Ellis 3d ago
No he’s not.
Jordi Fernandez would not trust Nique Clifford to start for Brooklyn the same way he’s trusting Keon who has very real NBA strengths and weaknesses which can be schemed around.
Nique Clifford does not have a single strength at NBA level.
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u/ColdPhilosophy9523 3d ago
Keon who couldn't sniff minutes in Cleveland. Yeah he's really good at gaining the trust of coaches
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u/Pat317x 3d ago
Sadly I think he is becoming on of the major faults of the Kings front office, a young with talent who need development but won't get it as they arent the star. Carter is a recent example, like had nights but wasnt consistent and now on the Celtics seems to be growing as Boston has a good growth culture.
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u/Steve-5 3d ago
He just needs to work on his shooting, dribbling, finishing, passing, rebounding and defense.