The 2025 NBA Draft is here, but for Denver Nuggets fans, it’s just a day in which they can go to bed at a better time because their team holds no stock in either round thanks to trades that they have made in the past. Their original picks are the 25th and 52nd overall selections, but those now belong to Orlando and Phoenix, respectively.
The first round pick, which Orlando is set to use on Wednesday night, is the final asset of the Aaron Gordon trade from 2021 that has yet to be exercised. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the Nuggets won that trade, as they also surrendered fan-favorite Gary Harris and young guard R.J. Hampton in that deal over four years ago. While there have been plenty of bad trades the Nuggets brass has made over the years involving their own draft picks, the Gordon trade was not one of them, and netted the franchise its ‘glue guy’ that was a key factor in the team’s championship run and the subsequent seasons.
Theoretically, what if the Nuggets still held onto that pick towards the end of the first round. Who are some guys that would be available to end up in the Mile High City in an alternate universe?
Nique Clifford – Wing, Colorado State
Anyone who has been tuned into hoops in the Centennial State over the past five years should know the name Nique Clifford. Originally from Colorado Springs, he played his high school ball at The Vanguard School before heading up to Boulder to play for Tad Boyle and the Colorado Buffaloes. In three years with the Buffs, he was a talented role player but was never able to get a chance to sign. When the Buffs brought 5-star wing Cody Williams to town, Clifford took a short trip up I-25 to play for rival Colorado State.
He blossomed there, making an All-Mountain West team in each of his two years in Fort Collins. This past season, he led the Rams to an unprecedented hot streak down the stretch in which they went 21-5, leading them to a Mountain West title and an appearance in the Round of 32. If not for a miracle buzzer beater by Maryland’s Derik Queen, he would’ve led the Rams to a Sweet 16 berth.
Clifford would be a great fit on the Nuggets. He is a 3-level scorer on offense who has unfathomable length on defense to guard on the ball and recover to block shots, proven by his First-team All-defense nomination he received in the Mountain West in 2025. He averaged 18.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game this season, astonishingly good numbers for a 6-foot-6 wing.
Nique Clifford
Polished scorer ✅
Fluid athlete ✅
High motor ✅
Connective playmaker ✅
Versatile defender ✅
Efficient two-way guard who plays with an edge and loves to crash the glass. The kind of player any team would love to have. pic.twitter.com/iQAJPm2iwm
— DraftCentral (@draftcentralnet) June 21, 2025
Walter Clayton Jr. – Guard, Florida
Clayton is a totally different animal than Clifford, but would again be a solid fit for the Nuggets. He’s a 6-foot-2 guard that is a threat to score as soon as he crosses half court, and had plenty of Steph Curry-esque moments during his run to the title this season. He’s more like Jamal Murray in the sense that he’s a score-first point guard rather than a pass-first guard, but his fit with Denver makes sense because the Nuggets need all the 3-point shooting they can get after they had Russell Westbrook spacing in the corner last season.
The 22-year-old averaged 18.3 points per game while shooting over 38% from distance last year. He could easily be a name that is tearing up the league offensively five years from now if he adjusts well to the speed of NBA basketball.
Walter Clayton Jr. shot creation summarized in 60 seconds.
38.6% 3P (13.5 3PA/100). pic.twitter.com/KeLxpGi1cM
— Mohamed (@mcfNBA) June 17, 2025
Ryan Kalkbrenner – Center, Creighton
For the fans out there who have been begging for a reliable backup center ever since Mason Plumlee left town after the 2020 season (while Aaron Gordon spot minutes in the playoffs works fine, that’s not a true center), Kalkbrenner would be the guy to fill that roll. A giant, standing at 7-foot-1 and 257 pounds, he wouldn’t be able to run the same offense that the team traditionally utilizes when Nikola Jokic is on the floor, but he would be able to dominate the paint.
He averaged 19.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game this season as he led the Blue Jays to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive season. His size is his greatest asset, and should be able to produce similar numbers to what Zach Edey did for the Memphis Grizzlies this past season. The Nuggets could use some extra paint protection, and would love to have a guy like this that could prevent Jokic from playing almost 37 minutes a night in the regular season.
Porzingis you can pack your bags. Brad bringing demon 7 footer Ryan Kalkbrenner home to Causeway🥶 pic.twitter.com/Ia1uhXmFlQ
— ⋆ (@80kft) June 24, 2025
Again, Aaron Gordon and the role he plays for the Nuggets is a greater asset than any of these guys that could potentially be available when the 25th pick comes around tonight. However, these three guys repping the blue and gold is fun to think about, and they all have tools that could help the Nuggets compete for another championship.
