What Nique Clifford to the Thunder means for the Spurs

The Thunder and the Kings completed an early-season trade that surprised most observers. Oklahoma City acquired second-year player Nique Clifford from Sacramento in exchange for two second-round picks, as first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania.

The trade is strange from the Kings’ side, and we’ll get to it. As far as the Spurs are concerned, however, the biggest impact comes from the Thunder once again getting cost-controlled, young talent for middling draft assets to bolster their depth in the present and the near future. Let’s start there.

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Clifford won’t likely make a big difference this year, but the trade puts OKC in a better overall position

First things first: Clifford is not Jared McCain. All they have in common is that they were both second-year players whose previous teams gave up on them, and they were both traded to Oklahoma City for two second-rounders. The main difference between the two is that McCain was so impressive to start his first season in Philadelphia that he was the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year for a while, before getting hurt. Clifford, who entered the league at 23 years of age, had an acceptable but unimpressive first season for a horrible Kings team. The McCain trade was a bigger deal than this one at the time, and McCain’s impact will likely be bigger than Clifford’s in the future.

With that out of the way, it’s still a good move for Oklahoma City, as they needed depth at the wing after losing Jalen Williams and likely Cason Wallace for the rest of the season. Clifford is 6’5 with a 6’8 wingspan, a jack-of-all-trades player who can fill in the gaps in lineups. He’s someone who, in theory, can contribute in many different ways, which is always helpful for good teams that already have elite scorers and creators in place and can use guys who won’t demand too many touches. There’s a really good chance he thrives as a secondary or tertiary creator in Oklahoma City while providing solid defense. Considering what it took to get him, he’s not a bad stopgap.

The real impact this trade could have, however, is on the future affordability of an increasingly expensive Thunder…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nique-clifford-thunder-means-spurs-025917930.html

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Publish date : 2026-11-09 02:59:00

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