Rookies ‘amaze’ in preseason debut, save Kings from blowout at home
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Rookies energized Kings late as team outscored Raptors 44-33 in 4th despite loss.
- Nique Clifford showed versatility with 10 points, 9 assists and floor impact.
- Coach Doug Christie praised rookies for playing team identity and earning minutes.
The Sacramento Kings won’t come away from their preseason opener with much to latch onto. But they got to see their rookies play in an NBA game for the first time and give Golden 1 Center a much-needed jolt of energy late in the contest.
“They did amazing,” Kings center Domantas Sabonis said. “They waited for their turn. They came out and brought the energy and brought the basketball that Doug (Christie) wants us to play and props to them. As the starters, we should have done our part.”
The Kings lost 130-122 to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday despite many the rookies and bench players outscoring Toronto 44-33 in the final frame. The preseason crowd had been lifeless while the normal rotation players let the road team’s lead expand to 25 in the third quarter, but fans erupted when the youngsters started making plays in the fourth.
He didn’t score until the final frame, but Nique Clifford, the No. 24 pick in the 2025 draft out of Colorado State, had a spinning layup and scored on a dive to the basket after Kings coach Doug Christie had enough faith in him to start him in the second half. He took the place of Zach LaVine, whose night was done after scoring 16 points in the opening half.
Sacramento’s second-round pick, Maxime Raynaud, got his first action to start the fourth quarter, as it appears he’s well behind veteran Drew Eubanks for the chance to work as Sabonis’ primary backup.
Perhaps the biggest cheer of the game came when two-way player Dylan Cardwell, an undrafted rookie from Auburn, dunked on Raptors forward Jamison Battle and had another alley-oop dunk to make it a 6-point game with two minutes left.
Clifford finished with 10 points and 9 assists. Raynaud had 7 points and six rebounds in his 12 minutes, playing the entire fourth quarter. Cardwell added 12 points in 13:32 on the floor and was a team-high plus-16.
Unlike the expected rotation players in the previous 36 minutes, the youngsters played the style Christie has been talking about since the team’s media day Sept. 29.
“They played Kings basketball, identity-wise,” Christie said of the young players in the fourth quarter. “That’s what you saw and that’s what we expect.”
The Kings through three quarters had 14 turnovers to just 12 assists on 25 made shots. They had 13 assists on 17 made shots in the fourth quarter alone.
Clifford appears to have a chance to contribute during his rookie season, even while the Kings have an apparent logjam at guard. His versatility could be useful among most of the team’s offense-first players in the starting lineup, and he might be able to play small forward in smaller lineups.
“Nique is extremely talented — just incredible upside,” Christie said. “I think that he got better as he got a little bit more comfortable out there on the floor. ... He’s going to have ups and downs and different things, but he does so many different things. He got in there and got a rebound, he got assists, he can run the pick and roll, he can shoot an open shot, he can create his own shot, he defends at a high level.
“He’s still a little jumpy on the defensive end, so that gets him in trouble, but when you can affect the game in different ways, you find your way on to the floor.”
Clifford’s versatility stood out to the Kings during Summer League, where he built chemistry with Raynaud and Cardwell. He appeared much more comfortable with that group than when he was thrown in with the starters to begin the third quarter.
He’ll have three more preseason games to get more comfortable with those players before the start of the regular season Oct. 22.
“It was fun playing with (the rookies) at the end,” Clifford said. “But I got to learn how to play with everybody to be effective.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2025 at 11:14 PM.
