3 most underpaid Nuggets players on next season's roster
By Ben Handler
Now that the roster is almost entirely set for training camp and to enter the 2024-25 season, it’s a good time to take a look at the Nuggets’ finances and how they have allocated their resources. Recently I dug into the negative side of things and focused on the most overpaid players on the current team.
Luckily for fans, it was a pretty short list and the only players who are glaringly overpaid to the point it’s hurting the team are Michael Porter Jr. and Zeke Nnaji. And even those players aren’t killers as MPJ is still a net-positive player and an important starter while Nnaji is making under $9 million this season.
But now let’s take a look at the other end of the spectrum and focus on the Nuggets players who are underpaid. Much like with the overpaid players, there aren’t a ton of candidates, but there are a few who stand out. One of the main takeaways from this exercise is that most of the players on the roster are pretty fairly compensated at the moment.
That doesn’t apply to everyone though. So here are the 3 most underpaid Nuggets players on the current roster going into the 2024-25 season.
3.) Christian Braun - 2 years, $8.01 million
Braun will make just over $3 million this year and has a team option for next season worth under $5 million. That’s nobody’s fault, it’s just the standard rookie scale contract for where he was drafted, but he’s still dramatically outplayed it.
Braun has proven himself to be at worst a solid role player, and somebody that Michael Malone has been able to rely on in major playoff moments as just a rookie and sophomore. Letting KCP walk was also a vote of confidence in Braun and it appears likely the third-year player will be a starter this year.
If Braun has another strong season and continues to build on his game, it’s likely the Nuggets will extend him for a much more reasonable number ahead of next season. But still, for a title contender to be able to pay a solid starter just $3 million this season feels like stealing.