The Denver Nuggets did plenty to supply their 3-time MVP and 2023 NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokić with fantastic complementary pieces this past offseason.
Denver’s reunion with 2023 NBA champion Bruce Brown and eventual agreement to a deal with 13-year veteran reserve center Jonas Valančiūnas in free agency rebuilt their bench unit, but the Nuggets’ starting unit also received a positive update to go along with their trade acquisition of Cam Johnson from the Brooklyn Nets.
Prior to the tip-off of the 2025-26 NBA season, the Nuggets’ new-look front office reportedly signed their former No. 21 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft to a hefty, but well-deserved contract extension.
“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,” ESPN’s Shams Charania wrote Monday afternoon.
“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.”
With Braun remaining in the picture for the foreseeable future, the Nuggets have filled their starting shooting guard slot with a hastily-developing, competitive two-way player.
At just 23 years old, Braun has proven to be an incredibly gritty and hard-working guard with positive defensive instincts. On top of that, his remarkably efficient 2024-25 campaign with Denver made an extension agreement easy to get across the finish line.
In 79 games for the Nuggets last season, the 2023 NBA champion averaged career-bests across the board with 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals and 0.5 blocks while knocking down a ridiculous 58.0% of his attempts from the field and boasting a solid 39.7% shooting clip from three-point range.
As he heads into his fourth NBA season in 2025-26, Denver will be hoping for the athletic guard to reach another level in an effort to partially lead the Nuggets to what would be their second championship victory in four seasons.
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