Sports Illustrated recently wrote that Christian Braun has the fourth-worst contract in the NBA. It’s a bold claim about the Denver Nuggets wing, whose contract has come under fire, but still ranks among the best defensive wings in the game. Factoring in how injuries impacted his play in 2025-26, it’s tough to justify such a criticism.
Though Braun is in need of a statement season, the Nuggets know as well as anyone that their starting shooting guard is far closer to worth the contract than critics are letting on.
Yes, five years and $125 million is a hefty price to pay for any player, let alone a role player. In saying that, it’s a backloaded deal. That could prove damaging in the long-term, but for now, he’s a starting-caliber player making just over $21.55 million—the lowest figure of any starter in Denver’s lineup.
Assuming Braun, 25, stays healthy in 2026-27 after enduring an injury-plagued 2025-26 campaign, he should perform at a level that makes it far easier to remember why he got the contract in the first place.
Though a healthy season is far from guaranteed, it’s worth noting that Braun appeared in at least 76 games in each of his first three NBA seasons. In 2026-27, he was one of a surplus of Nuggets players to endure injuries, and the left ankle sprain he sustained caused almost the entirety of his absences.
For instance: After Feb. 3, the only two games that Braun missed were the last two outings of the regular season—and he appeared in each of the Nuggets’ six playoff games.
Big contract or not, Christian Braun makes his mark on games
Furthermore, Braun is by no means a net negative or a bad player. He’s an excellent defender, an elite transition scorer, an efficient low-volume shooter who knows his limitations, and a capable bucket-getter who’s far more likely to put you on skates than you are to even catch him out of position.
The Nuggets are strapped for cash and continue making low-potential signings because of their poor financial decisions, but that’s not because of Braun’s contract alone—it’s because of years of roster and cap mismanagement.
For instance, Denver gave Michael Porter Jr. a five-year, $179,299,750 contract after playing just 116 of a possible 227 games in three seasons. They then waited too long to trade him, swapped him for an injury-plagued replacement in Cameron Johnson, and are now banking on his expiring contract and Zeke Nnaji miraculously declining his player option for 2027-28 to create some kind of flexibility.
The Nuggets have also been hit or miss at the NBA Draft, with Braun and the departed Peyton Watson being two of their few success stories—partially due to scouting, partially due to injuries, and partially due to the coaching staff waiting until the 25th hour to empower the up-and-comers to play a meaningful role.
Nuggets’ financial mess is about far more than Christian Braun
Yes, Braun needs to stay healthy and play up to his potential in order to justify his $125 million deal. This idea that he’s one of the most overpaid players in the NBA, however, is a bit difficult to justify when one considers that he’s already helped Denver win a title and is now one of the better role players in the game.
Even in 2025-26, when injuries were a factor, Braun ranked No. 3 in the NBA in perimeter isolation defense and finished in the 98th percentile in ball screen navigation, the 93rd percentile in off-ball chaser defense, and the 82nd percentile in overall screener defense, per Basketball Index.
Furthermore, despite his three-point shooting woes in 2025-26, he shot 64.6 percent on twos, averaged a career-high 1.4 offensive rebounds per game, and increased his output by 0.3 assists per 36 minutes. Braun also shot 38.4 percent or better from beyond the arc in 2023-24 and 2024-25, which suggests that his floor is far higher than advertised after an injury-impacted poor shooting season in 2025-26—the first of his career.
Braun needs to stay healthy and rediscover his jumper, but if he manages to do so, then the idea of him having one of the worst contracts in the NBA will quickly fade away.
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