Nuggets offseason must include dumping starting guard on ignorant team

The Denver Nuggets have one mission this summer that must rise above every other. They must trade Christian Braun before it is too late.

The Nuggets already kicked the ball into their own goal on this one. Christian Braun was a draft-day success, without a doubt. They took a player with the 21st pick in the 2022 draft who developed into a viable starter. That’s a win.

Nuggets misvalued Christian Braun

Yet the Nuggets failed to understand just why Braun was so valuable in his third season. He excelled in transition, among the league leaders in frequency and efficiency in scoring on the break. His ability to race down the court and be open to catch a pass from Nikola Jokic rivaled that of the Denver Broncos’ receivers. 

Braun racked up points on high-percentage looks, in transition and by cutting to the rim. He shot efficiently from the perimeter, but on low volume. He is the epitome of a player who thrives in the space that defenses give up because they don’t prioritize stopping him. He doesn’t change how a defense reacts.

To his credit, he made the most of it. And he is a good (not great, though) defender. But he is impactful because of Nikola Jokic, not because of his own exceptional merits. He is a good player, not a great one. And yet the Nuggets paid him like he was great.

He agreed to a contract extension last offseason that begins this upcoming season, and it’s a lucrative one. Braun will make an average of $25 million per season over the next five years, clear starter money for a player who is not clearly one of the five starters for this team.

Braun is struggling

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Braun took a step back this season. Perhaps that was due to injury, or perhaps he had a career season in a contract year and regressed to the mean, but his efficiency and overall impact went down. 

What was once a bad contract has now become an anchor, a nugget of iron weighing down the salary table of a franchise that historically has put its own limits on how much it will spend. How will the Nuggets continue to surround one of the world’s best players with a championship team? Not by handing out excessive contracts to middling players.

The Nuggets need to hope that another team sees the value of Braun and dismisses his down season as primarily an injury issue. They must hope another team sees Braun as the answer to their perimeter defense needs and overlooks his offensive limitations. And, most of all, his contract.

Denver needs to trade Braun

Denver cannot hope to get back strong value for Braun; they need to take the hit and move him this summer, before another shaky season makes his contract look even worse. 

The Nuggets need to bring back Peyton Watson. They need the shooting of Cam Johnson. They need to have the financial flexibility to add to the roster. That requires saving money somewhere, even with their own reticence to spend into the tax and surely above the second tax apron.

That should not come from trading Johnson, or from letting Watson walk. It should come from trading Braun. The more money they can save in such a move, the better. 

His fit with Jokic is fantastic. It would be great to otherwise keep him as a reserve. Paying him what they are, however, means it is time to move on.

Denver must trade Christian Braun this summer. 

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