After just over a season, the Sacramento Kings were facing buyer's remorse on Nique Clifford. The Kings traded into the 2025 NBA Draft to select him 24th overall. That investment was deemed unsuccessful by their franchise, and they started searching for an escape route.
Seeing as the Kings have rarely been the best evaluators of talent, and have struggled just as much with player development, there were teams who wanted to see if Clifford could thrive elsewhere. The Los Angeles Lakers were among that group. Michael Scotto reported both the Lakers and Denver Nuggets poked around on what a trade would cost before the now former King got moved.
The Oklahoma City Thunder proved quicker to the punch, trading two second-round picks to acquire Clifford. They quickly cleared out Dalen Terry to make room for their new addition.
If the Thunder are willing to gamble on a player, that should be a good indicator of a worthwhile endeavor. However, for a multitude of reasons, the cost of doing business was too much for the Lakers here by contrast. It was an understandable miss for Rob Pelinka and company.
Lakers' asset pool was too weak to gamble on Nique Clifford
The Lakers could have forked over two second-round picks to acquire Clifford. That is not the issue. The real problem is where that would have left Los Angeles after the fact.
Three tradeable second-round picks and one pick swap is all Pelinka currently has at his disposal. Trading two of those second rounders to the Kings is a much steeper price for the Lakers than it was for the Thunder.
One almost has to wonder when Los Angeles called about Clifford.
Could it have been before they trimmed the roster down to 15? Was this a way to swap Dalton Knecht and a pick for a player they liked a little bit better? That could have been better than what they ultimately did by simply releasing Knecht.
If these phone calls were more recent, giving up half your tradeable draft capital for a player who has upside but is far from a sure thing would have been a tough look. The Lakers have very little to work with for the trade market. Betting big, relative to their situation, on an unproven talent posed sizable risk.
The Lakers have bigger roster problems that require trade assets
Matching a similar trade price to what the Thunder surrendered for Clifford would have meant giving up on the chips needed to go all-in on bigger roster needs, too. Adding a backup center or upgrading at forward both still stand out as more pressing for the Lakers.
Jarred Vanderbilt has helped the second unit move away from Kevon Looney. Featuring Sandro Mamukelashvili as the backup five is much more doable with him and Adou Thiero around. Even so, adding a real five-man is something the Lakers should have high on their priority list moving forward.
A starting four with a bit more size would not hurt either. Jake LaRavia has done a respectable job since being elevated. In general, the committee approach has been solid for the wing group. Despite that, a full-time solution featuring an established player would still warrant intrigue.
Giving up assets needed to push for Clifford would have severely limited the Lakers in trying to do either of those things. Do not be surprised if the 24-year-old turns the corner with the Thunder. It still does not change that Los Angeles understandably passed on this move.
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