The playoff picture in the Western Conference is coming into focus, and for the Denver Nuggets, they find themselves further down the standings than they might like. They are currently seventh in the West, despite the awesome play of superstar Nikola Jokic, who is not only averaging a triple-double but is the frontrunner to win his fourth league Most Valuable Player award in five seasons.
With the Nuggets further down in the standings than they were last season, they have an incentive to try and make a big trade to improve their roster around Jokic. Given how the talent level has risen in the West, leading to more competitive balance, the Nuggets should do everything they can to try and break away from the pack.
In the meantime, they have gotten a boost from a third-year player that has stepped into a larger role. Christian Braun was tapped to replace former starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (KCP), who signed with the Orlando Magic this season and has thrived.
Nuggets Guard Christian Braun has been an excellent 3 & D 5th Starter this season, taking on difficult matchups and navigating around ball screens near or above the 90th Percentile among the 306 Rotation Players this season.
— BBall Index (@The_BBall_Index) December 27, 2024
Braun is shooting the ball well from 3 and excelling… pic.twitter.com/1wOAGrM0fd
The Denver Nuggets' Christian Braun has successfully stepped into a larger role this season.
Thus far, the Nuggets' gamble on Braun has proven to be the right move, even though they could have held on to KCP. Even so, he has lived up to expectations, thriving in his role as a three-and-D wing. Denver isn't particularly deep, so having Braun step up and fill a hole has been particularly big for them and given them one less thing to worry about.
Better still, he is still on his rookie contract for another season, giving them a cheap option that they can retain, presumably at an affordable number.
Going forward, the Nuggets will need him to further expand his offensive game with him needing to be more aggressive shooting from outside. Braun is a low-volume shooter from distance, averaging just 2.6 3-point attempts in 33.8 minutes per game.
Even so, he is shooting a solid 37.8% from deep this season and is an above-average shooter for his career, hitting 37.4% of his career attempts. To truly become an elite three-and-D wing and address one of the Nuggets' biggest issues, his average number of attempts must significantly increase.
They don't take enough threes, and that can be a problem when facing teams that do, but Braun could eventually help in that regard. Denver could potentially address their shooting issues in the trade market, but as is, Braun has largely lived up to expectations and filled a needed role.