Nique Clifford 2025 NBA Draft Profile

Nique Clifford 2025 NBA Draft Profile

It’s almost that time! We are nearly one month away from the 2025 NBA Draft, with the combine wrapping up last week. Today, we are previewing Colorado State’s Nique Clifford, who had an outstanding (super) senior season after returning to school in 2024-25.

Height (no shoes): 6’5.25″ (6’8″ wingspan, 8’6.5″ standing reach)

Weight: 202 lbs

Draft Age: 23.4

Position: G/F (Wing)

Clifford, 23, spent his first three seasons at Colorado before transferring to Colorado State ahead of the 2023-24 season. After averaging 12.2 points and 7.6 rebounds in his first season with the Rams, Clifford tested the 2024 draft waters.

Though the 6-foot-6 wing returned to school, took on a lead creator role (previously held by Isaiah Stevens) and flourished.

Clifford averaged 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.2 steals on 49.6 percent shooting, 37.7 percent from 3-point range and 77.7 percent from the free-throw line. The two-time All-MW honoree finished second in the conference’s Player of the Year voting (behind now UCLA guard Donovan Dent), helping lead Colorado State to the NCAA Tournament and a near Sweet 16 berth.

Strengths:

I think Clifford is one of the best upperclassmen in the class. It’s easy to see why.

He’s a late bloomer, but as he saw his usage uptick nearly seven percent (20.8 to 27.7) from his first to second season at Colorado State, his efficiency was largely unaffected. In 2023-24, his effective field goal percentage was 58.6 percent while his true-shooting percentage was 60.9 percent; his effective field goal percentage last year was 56.5 percent with a 60.3% TS%. Marginal decreases.

However, one of my favorite parts about Clifford’s game was that, because of how Niko Medved’s offense was designed, the ball didn’t stick as much as you would expect for someone with a near-30-percent usage. There were a lot of cuts, screens, passes, ball movement to the second and third sides, etc. It ultimately made life easier for Clifford while also making him a more well-rounded offensive player.

There were times when the Colorado State alum wouldn’t stop moving off-ball. I loved how well he would time his cuts off-ball and how he saw the floor both on- and off-ball.

When the ball was in his hands, he improved as a decision-maker. He had solid burst and good change of pace. He was uber-efficent at the cup, shooting 71.2 percent at the rim, according to Barttorvik.

He could finish with both hands and for a player who wasn’t tasked with self-creating as much as he was in his first four seasons, did a fairly good job last year at creating his own shot inside the arc. When he wanted to, Clifford got to his spots with relative ease. The 23-year-old has fairly long strides and can cover plenty of ground in a short period of time. He’s a fluid mover with good flexibility in tight spaces.

Oh, and he was the best rebounder in the country for his size. The Rams weren’t big, but Clifford was always around the rim when shots went up. He amassed an absurd 26.0 defensive rebounding percentage, the best mark in the country (by far) out of 317 players who are 6-foot-5 or shorter who played at least 1000 minutes.

Rebounding wins championships. There are always spots in the NBA for players who crash the glass–especially on my team.

Clifford was always one of the best defenders in the Mountain West as well, which made his insanely productive season all the more impressive. He carried a huge burden offensively, yet still got the job done on both ends. More often than not, he defended the team’s best guard or wing. Clifford had good foot speed, a deceptively strong base, active hands with good dexterity and coordination in the passing lanes, etc. He was never a weak link and I don’t project him to be at the next level, either.

Kon Knueppel 2025 NBA Draft Profile

Weaknesses:

All of that said, let’s move into the negatives–or qualities that I have questions about–about Nique Clifford.

First off, he’s 23-years-old. He’s an old prospect. While I think Clifford is an under-the-radar awesome two-way prospect who’s a late bloomer, his ceiling may be capped because of his age. He also played most of his games against Mountain West competition. They’re a top-6 conference, but it’s no SEC or Big 12–and the NBA is an entirely different beast.

I don’t think his role will be as profound as it was at Colorado State. I do have slight questions about his shot creation capabilities against NBA defenders. A big part of that is his ballhandling. It’s not incredibly tight in tight spaces.

I feel similarly about Clifford’s handle as I do Brandon Ingram: It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s loose enough that I think teams could poke it away more frequently than they actually do (in close quarters). Does that make sense? Maybe not, which is OK.

There were times when Clifford tried to force passes and pre-emptively make decisions, which won’t fly at the NBA level. I don’t think he’ll be a primary creator right away–there’s a world where he develops into one–but he’ll have to limit those mistakes if he wants to stick on the floor.

While he shot 37.7 percent from deep over his last two collegiate seasons, Clifford’s 3-point shooting is fairly streaky and comes in waves. His career 72.4 free-throw percentage indicates that his long-range efficiency could translate. But, as an example, he shot 33.7 percent from deep over his first 17 games last year and 41.3 percent over his final 19–even after an 0-for-9 display in two NCAA Tournament games.

How his shooting and shot creation translate could affect his true upside. I’m not too worried about him otherwise, though I’m pretty curious to see how he holds up defensively because of his slender frame.

Projection: Picks Nos. 15-25 in first round

I have no problem turning in the card for Nique Clifford if I have a top-20-ish pick, but I can also reason why some teams may not want to do that if they have concerns about his upside if the fit isn’t right. He’s not the highest “upside swing,” per se. But that shouldn’t matter. Clifford impacts winning and I think he’ll benefit in most systems leaguewide. He’s another player who should stick around for the next 10-15 years as a quality role player.

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