A day that basketball players dream of is coming soon for one of the Rams’ superstars.

Colorado State men’s basketball star player Nique Clifford is expected to be chosen in the upcoming 2025 NBA draft in June after a standout senior season.

“As a Colorado Springs, Colorado, native who played college basketball at two universities in Colorado, staying home for his next career chapter would likely be surreal for the hometown kid and an absolute thriller for both CSU and local Nuggets fans.”

Clifford led the Rams to their first Mountain West championship since 2003 and the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. Averaging 18.9 points per game, 9.6 rebounds per game and shooting 37.7% from 3 this year, Clifford has shown all the intangibles that make him a nifty NBA draft prospect.

As his collegiate career has come to an end on a high note — as well as the NBA season nearing an end soon — the creation of mock drafts have begun, with Clifford being named on most prominent early mocks for this summer.

In his pre-NCAA Tournament mock draft, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman listed Clifford as the No. 19 pick, labeling him “one of the most versatile prospects in the country.”

Adam Finkelstein, a writer for CBS Sports, created a mock draft before the Sweet 16 round of the tournament. In this mock, he has Clifford going at the No. 15 pick, calling him “a complete stat-stuffer.”

A majority of recent mock drafts — all coming before the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament — project Clifford to land anywhere between the No. 15 pick and the No. 25 pick. However, the bigger question presented is: Where is the best landing spot in the NBA for Clifford?

As the NBA regular season nears a finish, teams prepare to know their draft position and which prospects they will have high on their draft boards. Diving into how the NBA may look next year, four teams present themselves as great fits for Clifford’s playstyle and his pro development.

Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder have clinched the first seed in the Western Conference and will finish as one of — if not the best — teams in basketball, making their 2025 draft pick position low.

Luckily for them, OKC owns the right to swap picks with either the Houston Rockets or the Los Angeles Clippers via a trade acquisition a couple of years back. Whichever team ends with the worse record and higher pick is who the Thunder will swap picks with, essentially giving OKC a mid-to-late first-round pick.

Oklahoma City is stacked with young talent and young stars, and that has been their formula for recent success. Clifford will enter this year’s draft at age 23, which is about the same age as a lot of key pieces of the Thunder’s rotation.

This is also what contending teams such as OKC do: They draft experienced rookies to help win. Clifford had a five-year collegiate career, and he is no project by any means entering the league.

Clifford’s ability to create his own shot off the drive to the rim and even stretch out and knock down 3’s at a higher clip both fit how the Thunder play. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the helm for years to come, Clifford can slide right in as a scorer off the bench to ease the load off Gilgeous-Alexander or as a plug-and-play option off the bench, where he can immediately contribute on both ends under Oklahoma City’s successful offensive and defensive schemes.

Indiana Pacers

Indiana is another team that looks to have a mid-to-late first-round pick this summer, and Clifford falls right into that range in most mock drafts.

The Pacers play a fast-paced, offense-heavy game wherein they could use Clifford’s downhill scoring presence to a large capacity.

Indiana plays around star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, and he creates open looks for his wings with ease. For Clifford, playing alongside Haliburton is a clear door to success at the pro level, as Clifford knows how to finish around the rim and run out in transition — exactly how the Pacers play and how Haliburton assists his teammates.

Clifford would assumingly be alongside wings Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin and Bennedict Mathurin, who all get easy looks and play off Haliburton. Add Clifford into that mix of wings, and he could have similar productive seasons those three have been having during their time with Indiana.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Minnesota made the Western Conference Finals in 2024 with a roster full of two-way players to complement star Anthony Edwards around the edges. As the Timberwolves lost some of those two-way players last off-season, they have fallen a bit below where they would like to be on the timeline as the season has gone on.

A way for Minnesota to build back a winning roster with two-way guys? Drafting Nique Clifford. Clifford has all the intangibles needed to be a two-way guy in the league, and putting him on a team looking to win, such as Minnesota, is a great way to maximize his potential.

The Timberwolves would benefit from drafting an older rookie like Clifford, as they would immediately be able to plug him into the rotation, and he could just play a strict nightly role on a Minnesota team that just needs little contributions all around the roster to succeed, as seen in 2024.

Clifford, once again, would benefit scoringwise from the attention Edwards attracts from defenses, and his length and size for the defensive end would certainly intrigue the front office of a Timberwolves team with big defenders like Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

Add in what Minnesota has faced — and will be facing — with salary cap issues this summer; for the future, they can benefit largely from having a 23-year-old plug-and-play option like Clifford on a rookie contract.

Denver Nuggets

It might make just too much sense for Clifford to land back in Colorado, but maybe not.

The Nuggets have made it clear how they want to build their roster since winning the NBA title in 2023: keep the core guys on their big contracts and add the roster’s finishing touches with high-IQ young guys through the draft to lower the payroll.

With Denver having this clear roster-building strategy, Clifford would make a lot of sense for this team. A clear pattern from all four landing spots is that each team has a superstar that would make Clifford better as a role player.

And what better guy to play next to than three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who just makes everyone around him so much better?

The issue that follows Clifford staying in Denver in June is that the Nuggets do not own their first-round pick in this upcoming draft. Regardless, if an opportunity arises on draft night wherein Clifford slips in the first round and the Nuggets have interest in him, trading up to select Clifford would not be surprising.

Just like what Denver has done with Christian Braun and Julian Strawther, Clifford would be an instant addition to a Nuggets rotation that has shown its lack of depth this season.

Clifford would excel in scoring around the rim, be a primary defender with his defensive skills and be a good spacer for a Nuggets team that could always use more shooting around Jokic.

As a Colorado Springs, Colorado, native who played college basketball at two universities in Colorado, staying home for his next career chapter would likely be surreal for the hometown kid and an absolute thriller for both CSU and local Nuggets fans.

Reach Devin Imsirpasic at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @DImsirpasic.