Christian Braun entered the season with perhaps more pressure than any other player on the Denver Nuggets' roster. The five-year, $125 million extension he signed in 2025 kicked in, so he not only needs to prove he's worth the money after a down year, but also that the front office's decision to pay him over Peyton Watson was the right one. So far, he's on the right track.
His best game of the young season happened when he dropped 31 points in the Nuggets' Oct. 30 win over the Suns, shooting 7-for-9 from three. It also marked the third straight game in which he recorded at least three steals.
Braun has scored in double digits in five of the seven games he's played and has been efficient, shooting 54.9 percent from the field and 42.2 percent from three. His activity and energy on both ends (he's averaging 2.1 steals per game) have stood out.
It's a long season, but Braun sure looks like he is living up to the expectations that came with his extension, proving he can be one of the Nuggets' best players.
Christian Braun is off to a good start for the Nuggets
Denver's net rating is +22.1 points higher with Braun on the floor, more than any of his teammates, reflecting the positive impact he's had on both ends.
Perhaps the most impressive part of his play thus far is his three-point shooting. In his breakout season in 2024-25, he shot 39.7 percent from three on 2.8 attempts per game.
This season, he's taking more shots (4.7) and hitting them at a higher clip, which matters for a team shooting 37.2 percent from deep (eighth in the league), but on 31.9 attempts per game, third-to-last in the NBA.
If he can keep knocking down outside shots consistently, he'll draw attention from opposing defenses and help open up the Nuggets' offense. That alone would go a long way toward Braun earning the nearly $22 million he is set to make this season, given Denver's spacing issues.
Braun was written off way too soon
Denver's compounding issues last season led to an early first-round exit and sparked offseason speculation about the direction the Nuggets should take. One idea that floated around on social media was trading Braun, and it was thought to be too challenging because of his contract. It may or may not have been discussed in the front office, but it doesn't matter now.
What matters is how Braun has started the season and the confidence he's played with after many people wrote him off, doubting he could be the player Denver needed to keep its championship window open. Maybe that helped fuel him.
It turns out it might've been premature to assume Braun couldn't be a true two-way threat based on what happened over the course of his fourth season, in which he played only 44 games.
Braun has let his play do the talking, and so far, he's saying all the right things.
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