One of the biggest underlying stories for the Nuggets this offseason is a possible new extension for Christian Braun. Braun has been the biggest draft success by far in recent years, but now he’s up for a new contract and will want to be paid accordingly.
There has been plenty of speculation about what he may be seeking and what the Nuggets may be willing to pay. There are plenty of comps from recent years, but the closest approximation may be the new deal signed by Jabari Smith Jr. on Sunday.
Smith Jr. was drafted much higher than Braun and had more pedigree coming out of college, but he and Braun have had similar starts to their NBA careers, emerging as valuable role players, likely topping out as a 4th or 5th starter on a good team.
On Sunday, Jabari signed a 5-year, $122 million extension to stay with the team that drafted him, the Houston Rockets. This deal will likely set the market for rookie extensions, and Braun will almost certainly be looking for similar or better value on his own extension.
Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. intends to sign a five-year, $122 million rookie contract extension, sources tell ESPN. Rockets officials and Smith's agent, Wallace Prather of LIFT Sports Management, negotiated the fully guaranteed deal through 2030-31 season. pic.twitter.com/S1hb9n0PRh
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2025
Paying Braun under $25 million per season would be a win for Nuggets
Given some initial sticker shock, this may sound like a massive amount of money for Braun, but it’s really not. That deal will pay Jabari an AAV just under $25 million per season. Given the rising salary cap, that contract should age very well and will likely be under 15% of the cap in a few years.
At the start of this offseason, Braun was rumored to be seeking a deal that would pay him $30 million per season, so this would actually be a nice bit of savings. The Nuggets really can’t afford to lose Braun, as he has been a great glue guy for the team, doing it all on both ends.
He picked up the slack perfectly on both ends once Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left in free agency, and provides an energy on defense and transition that can’t be matched by anyone else on the roster, especially now that Russell Westbrook has opted out of his contract.
Ultimately, this Jabari contract should give the Nuggets a nice bargaining chip to hopefully lock Braun up to a long-term deal without breaking the bank. They need to get the deal done, and will have to pay him fair market value, but this is a deal they should rush to get done, and that should look good as Braun continues growing into a core part of the Nuggets.