Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun has agreed to a five-year, $125 million rookie contract extension with the franchise, agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball told ESPN on Monday. Braun, the No. 21 pick in the 2022 NBA draft, has been a developmental find and success for the Nuggets brass. The Nuggets' top executives, Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace, made it a priority to negotiate a new long-term deal to lock in Braun as part of the franchise's core moving forward.
For perspective, that's like having an eight-point lead with two minutes left in a game. I'm not sure whether people realize how deep OKC is. Last season, the net points metric we use to evaluate players was positive for everyone in the Thunder's rotation and a couple of guys outside of their rotation -- 12 team members in total. In contrast, the Thunder's Finals' opponents, the Pacers, had just five players positive in the regular season.
Brown was a key x-factor for the Denver Nuggets during their 2023 NBA championship run. After the team celebrated their victory and moved into the 2023 offseason, Brown hit free agency. During the team parade, he highlighted that re-signing with the Nuggets was a priority for him. However, Brown decided to chase the bigger payday, signing a two-year, $45 million deal with the Indiana Pacers.
For our second annual offseason outlook series, Hot Hot Hoops senior writer Matt Hanifan will provide his take on the offseasons of all 30 teams for the next 30 days! We have already completed the Eastern Conference, so we will proceed in alphabetical order with the West before capping it all off with the Miami Heat. Today, we will be evaluating the Denver Nuggets' offseason. Past Previews: Evaluating the Denver Nuggets' 2025 offseason:
I want to clear the air about my playing situation next season now that Denver has made their decision to keep me. The idea of playing for Panathinaikos, closer to home, was very exciting to me, but that will have to wait.