NIQUE CLIFFORD
Position/Archetype: Do Everything Wing
College: Colorado State
Pros:
Rounded Scoring and Defensive ability: Switchable wing who can guard the perimeter and fight more physically, Laterally quick and long arms to get in the lanes, can score from most levels moving or standing, and thats gonna be a very useful skillset for a wing in the NBA and we have seen that with various examples. Not only that he's a good to great Rebounder and Passer that we will go more in depth on, in the high 90s percentile for Scoring, Playmaking and Rebounding.
Rebounding: 9.6 rebounds as a 6'5/6'6 player and a wing, very elite numbers. He is physical enough and long enough to grab them at the NBA level, probably not to the same level but this Is where we see most of the Josh hart Comparisons really make sense to me. Someone with the motor and determination to grab these rebounds like Clifford rubs off well on a team too.
Playmaking: Decent to good at this, not gonna be your primary ball handler but a secondary makes sense, has a few technical issues for example jumping up when he passes into the paint, if someone spots this its gonna turn into a lot of turnovers and this WILL be spotted in the NBA so switching some stuff will be important, but hes experienced in the pick and roll and in transition and can get his own bucket
Spot up shooting: Since he won't be handling the ball a tonne, having an off ball game is important and Clifford has that, his spot up shooting been a primary skill from that, shooting 38% in his college career and 40+% this season. This is a skill I value hugely when evaluating prospects, it matters a long way when evaluating a players floor for example.
High Usage: 27 USG% is quite high so you see comfortability handling the ball and being the center of play which can be useful, showing he can be called upon to create for the team off the bench or in another role where he maybe creating in the pick and roll for example where he found some success swing passes out.
Cons:
Age: he's gonna be 24 in his first NBA season, doesn't leave much room for improvement if he follows regular growth patterns but he was a late bloomer so maybe not, time will tell. but it also leaves not a lot of room to adapt to the league as well as changing skillset depending on needs.
Consistency: Potentially a streaky shooter, went 0/9 from three in the tournament, but then went 10/15 before the conference tourney, something needed from role players and future veterans is consistency to rub off on others in potentially team cold spells and this is really what i'd like to see change as he goes into the next stage of his career
Competition: Not very strong competition and as previously mentioned when he reached the tournament he shot pretty poorly from three but also the field although he had pretty rounded statlines and was very able to contribute without it. But as we see for these first 3 players their conferences leave a lot to be desired and again leaves questions over the magnitude of their strengths.
NBA Pro Comp: Josh Hart, Brandin Podziemski
Projection: Role Player, either a High level bench player or Decent starter, scouts gonna love this guy a tonne
CHEESE FINAL BOARD RANKING: (coming soon)