As far as the Sacramento Kings’ own players go, there might not be anyone receiving as much attention as Nique Clifford.
Taken with the 24th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Clifford is a Swiss Army Knife with a knack for putting the ball in the basket. This was apparent during his collegiate career but he continued to build his hype during the Las Vegas Summer League. In six games, the 23-year-old averaged 15.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.5 blocks per contest, shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from 3.
Ultimately, Clifford’s multi-faceted skillset will help the Kings cover a few of their holes. However, he doesn’t answer any of their burning questions as they head into 2025-26. Well, except for one.
3 Burning Questions For Kings Heading Into 2025-26 Season
What’s Happened???
In 2022-23, the Kings turned heads after winning 48 games and ending their 17-year playoff drought.
It was Mike Brown’s first season as a head coach since 2013-14. It was Domantas Sabonis‘s first full season with the Kings after being traded by the Indiana Pacers. In the same vein, it was Malik Monk‘s first season with Sacramento and Keegan Murray‘s first season in the NBA.
All of that is to say that 2022-23 was the perfect storm for the Kings and they were able to capture lightning in a bottle because of it.
Brown won Coach of the Year for the first time since 2009. Sabonis earned his first All-NBA selection and first top-10 finish in league MVP voting. Monk got his first top-five finish in Sixth Man of the Year voting. Murray finished top-five in Rookie of the Year voting. Last but not least, De’Aaron Fox earned his first All-Star selection and won the NBA’s new Clutch Player of the Year award.
It’s gone all downhill since then. In 2023-24, Sacramento’s tendency to play down to their competition was a major factor in them missing the playoffs. In 2024-25, their porous defense contributed to a jagged 13-18 start. Additionally, Brown’s coaching decisions and leadership style began to be questioned.
Firing Brown only created more problems though. Largely due to his dismissal, Fox forced his way to the San Antonio Spurs. This left the Kings without either an experienced head coach or starting-level point guard. On top of that, DeMar DeRozan‘s athletic limitations continued to make him a defensive weak link.
Then Sacramento traded for Zach LaVine. On the one hand, the high-flying marksman was playing lights-out. On the other hand, his skillset didn’t address the team’s need for a facilitator or better perimeter defense.
What’s The Solution?
As the Kings had demonstrated in 2022-23, they have a playoff-caliber core.
They’re now without Fox though. They’ve essentially replaced him with not only DeRozan and LaVine but Dennis Schroder. With that in mind, the trio is collectively more talented than Fox is alone. However, as none of them are speedy scoring-minded hybrid guards in the prime of their career, it’s not a plug-and-play situation. Indeed, the way the roster is constructed will only exacerbate the team’s concerns.
It’s simply illogical to start LaVine, DeRozan and Sabonis and expect them to consistently hold up defensively. DeRozan and Sabonis lack the lateral agility to excel when guarding in space. LaVine has the physical tools but he hasn’t had the mentality to consistently stand his ground.
To be fair, Schroder is a pesky point-of-attack defender. Still, he doesn’t have the ideal size to match up with wings, which might be a necessity with LaVine and DeRozan in the first unit. After all, Murray can’t cover every defensive hole.
Listed at 6-foot-5, Clifford does have the requisite length to be a multi-positional defender though. With that in mind, the rookie could have an outside chance of starting. After all, it’s not about starting the five best players, but the five players who will make life the hardest for their opponents.
At the end of the day, the Kings just need to replace either LaVine or DeRozan with a more capable defender. This doesn’t even have to result in a trade. Ideally, one of them would just be mature enough to accept coming off the bench so that 3-and-D specialist Keon Ellis could start.
Will They Trade For Jonathan Kuminga?
This offseason, Sacramento has been interested in acquiring Golden State Warriors restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga. However, they don’t have the cap space necessary to sign him outright. As a result, they’ve been discussing sign-and-trade scenarios with Golden State.
By all accounts, the Kings have been serious in this endeavor. Indeed, if acquired, he’s protected to enter the season as Sacramento’s starting power forward. Kuminga doesn’t enhance their playmaking, he has a streaky jumper and his off-ball defense needs to be sharper.
It was a CAREER night for Jonathan Kuminga in LA!
34 PTS (career-high)
— NBA (@NBA) December 28, 2024
Yet, he’s far more explosive than DeRozan, which will help them play at the pace that they want. In fact, he’ll likely mesh quite well with Sabonis, a masterful dribble hand-off operator. Furthermore, he does have significant defensive upside, particularly as an on-ball defender.
Unfortunately for Kings, the Warriors have resisted the temptation to trade Kuminga. Not only do they believe they can get a better offer, he’s only a season removed from being portrayed as the future of the franchise.
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