Thunder acquire Nique Clifford from the Kings for Utah’s 2028 and Minnesota’s 2030 second-round picks

The Oklahoma City Thunder are acquiring wing Nique Clifford from the Sacramento Kings for two second-round picks, Shams Charania reported on Sunday. Sam Amick reported the selections heading to Sacramento are Utah’s 2028 second-rounder and Minnesota’s 2030 second-rounder, both of which Oklahoma City already controlled.

The move sends Clifford back to the club that drafted him. Oklahoma City selected him 24th overall in 2025 and immediately traded his rights to the Kings for a top-16 protected 2027 first-round pick that originally belonged to the San Antonio Spurs — Sacramento keeps it if the pick lands anywhere from 1 through 16, and the Thunder receive it if it falls 17 through 30. Keith Smith noted that, for two second-round picks, Oklahoma City now gets Clifford and an extremely likely extra 2027 first-round pick.

Why Oklahoma City wanted him

Shams described the Thunder as injury-plagued on the wing and said Sacramento worked with Clifford to find him a new home after he fell out of the Kings’ rotation this season. Michael Scotto reported that the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets also expressed interest before the Kings sent him to Oklahoma City.

Clifford, a 24-year-old 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Colorado Springs, was a regular as a rookie. In 75 games last season, 28 of them starts, he averaged 8.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 25.1 minutes on 41.8 percent shooting and 33.3 percent from three. This season he has appeared in eight games and averaged 1.6 points, 0.9 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 6.3 minutes.

How the deal fits under the cap

Keith Smith reported that Oklahoma City is expected to bring Clifford in using the Aaron Wiggins trade exception, which would not trigger a second-apron hard cap because the exception was created this season. With Clifford added, Smith has the Thunder about $3.5 million under the second apron, plus about $106,000 in dead money tied to Dalen Terry. Bobby Marks separately noted that Oklahoma City had as many as 21 second-round picks available to trade and that the exception path keeps the club from being hard-capped at the second apron.

Financials on the Thunder-Kings trade:
🏀OKC will likely bring in Clifford via the Aaron Wiggins TPE. No second-apron hard cap triggered because that TPE was created this season.
🏀OKC will be ~$3.5M under the second apron w/ Clifford plus ~106K in dead money for Dalen Terry

1/2

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) November 8, 2026

The Thunder still need to open a standard roster spot. Scotto noted that Terry, who signed a non-guaranteed deal with Oklahoma City earlier this month, can be waived so Clifford can take the 15th seat. That waiver has not been announced.

On the Sacramento side, Smith reported the Kings will sit about $6.4 million under the luxury tax, create a trade exception of about $3.3 million for Clifford, and drop to 13 players on standard contracts. They will have up to 14 days to sign a 14th player to a standard deal.

The contract Oklahoma City is taking on

Marks listed Clifford’s rookie-scale salaries at about $3.2 million this season, $3.4 million next season and a $6 million team option after that. Sacramento already picked up the 2027-28 option, as our report on the Kings picking up his 2027-28 option detailed, so the Thunder will have him under contract for at least this season and next.

Who is heading to Oklahoma City

• Clifford is 24, stands 6-foot-5 and weighs about 210 pounds. He is from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
• He played three seasons at Colorado before transferring to Colorado State. As a senior in 2024-25 he averaged 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists and was named the Mountain West tournament MVP.
• Oklahoma City drafted him 24th overall in 2025, then sent his rights to Sacramento on draft night.
• His rookie-season high was 30 points against Cleveland on February 8. He finished that year with 13.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists over his final 28 games.