Nique Clifford wraps up his second Summer League with Kings. What’s his self-assessment?
LAS VEGAS —
As Nique Clifford steps into his second NBA season, he first needed to get through his second Summer League experience since arriving in Sacramento last year.
The 24-year-old was the Kings first-round pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, selected with the 24th overall pick out of Colorado State.
Clifford is hoping to build off a rookie campaign last season that saw him average 8.6 points (shooting 41.8% from the field, 33.3% from the perimeter), 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in his 75 games, 28 of them as a member of the starting rotation.
While his role with the Kings is still being carved out for himself, Clifford hoped to make the most of a second summer league appearance, looking to be more aggressive on both ends of the floor, as well as help to demonstrate leadership for his squad, which features three new draft picks.
(See Nique Clifford’s full interview with Sean Cunningham below.)
Nique Clifford chats about his second Summer League with Kings, Sacramento’s new rookies & Beam BoysWatch on
After going 3-0 in the California Classic, the Kings finished their Las Vegas schedule with a record of 2-3.
Clifford appeared in two games during the California Classic, averaging 12 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest, while playing three games in Las Vegas, posting per-game averages of 10.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and two assists.
Those numbers and the disappointing finish in the Vegas games left him wanting more from himself.
“I feel like I could definitely be better in a lot of ways,” Clifford said, calling out his efforts on both ends of the floor. “Defensively I can be better. There’s times when I have breakdowns and lapses. (There’s) times where I could be a little more aggressive instead of on my heels or getting driven by too easily. Offensively, I could definitely be more aggressive at times.”
Seeing him be more aggressive and assertive is the theme of Clifford’s offseason, as he looks to build upon his rookie season with training camp opening in late September.
“Last year, I’m still learning things, I’m still new to it, so you can mess up a little more,” said Clifford. “This year, being a little sharper with certain things I’m doing, being more assertive.”
Clifford isn’t the new kid in town anymore. Far from it, actually. He and last year’s rookies – Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell – now welcome three new draft picks this year with Darius Acuff Jr., Alex Karaban and Emanuel Sharp.
Clifford is hopeful to continue to build chemistry with the three new players and hope to welcome them to the group known affectionately as the “Beam Boys,” who each don sunglasses while lighting the beam inside Golden 1 Center after wins during the season.
“I think we’re an underdog organization,” Clifford admitted. “I feel like that’s kind of our mentality, our mindset. Sacramento Kings have never been known for being the best organization and I feel like that’s what we’re trying to change that narrative. We want to build a culture (that) everyone in Sacramento can be proud of.”
This content is imported from x. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Sacramento Kings preseason schedule:
🏀 Oct. 5 vs. Lakers – 7p
🏀 Oct. 8 at Lakers – 7:30p
🏀 Oct. 10 at Warriors – 5:30p
🏀 Oct. 13 vs Trail Blazers – 7p
🏀 Oct. 16 at Spurs – 5p
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) July 20, 2026
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google