If you were looking for a partner in a class project, you would want Nique Clifford to be your partner.
Why is that?
You need someone to find all the background information? Nique Clifford can do that. You need someone to create the PowerPoint? Nique Clifford can do that. You need someone to cite the sources? Nique Clifford can do that.
Nique Clifford can do everything, specifically on a basketball court. He also does it at an impeccable standard.
His senior year stats at Colorado State prove that. 18.9 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 4.4 APG, 1.2 SPG, 49.6 FG%, 37.7 3P% and a 77.7 FT% — he truly does it all.
Yet basketball is more than numbers. Clifford has a motor that gives a modern Ferrari a run for its money. Clifford can defend multiple positions along the perimeter, and he crashes the boards like a seven-foot-two center.
With a height of six-foot-six and a six-foot-eight wingspan, Clifford is truly a jack-of-all-trades player who can make any NBA team better.
So, what team would help him thrive the most?
That team would be the Atlanta Hawks.
It is believed that greed is the root of all evil. However, the greed for elite perimeter defenders has left NBA owners foaming at the mouth. The Oklahoma City Thunder have showcased how important it is to have an abundance of these players. Lu Dort, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace are just a few of the elite defenders this team has.
You do not get in trouble for plagiarizing in the NBA. It is a copycat league, and it is time for the Atlanta Hawks to copy the format of a team that is one victory away from an NBA championship.
The Hawks already have two of the most elite young defenders in the NBA with Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels. Adding Nique Clifford into the mix adds the icing on the cake for what is an elite defensive tandem.
A starting five of Trae Young-Dyson Daniels-Nique Clifford-Jalen Johnson-Onyeka Okongwu would be one of the best starting rotations in the Eastern Conference.
Clifford compliments Young’s play style as well. Clifford has showcased the ability to score off-ball. Young thrives best with the ball in his hands and struggles when he has to play any sort of defense. Now, with the potential addition of Clifford, Young would have three pit bulls ready to defend for him at any given moment.
The Atlanta Hawks last made the Eastern Conference finals in 2021. Young was on top of the world, and a young Hawks team was destined for greatness.
They have done nothing since.
A draft selection of Clifford would reopen the door towards the Eastern Conference Finals, a door the Atlanta faithful thought was shut for eternity.