Christian Braun proves why the nuggets made the right decision last season

On By Littum

Denver Nuggets made a difficult decision to move on from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in this offseason, and there were immediate concerns about who would step into the starting lineup for Mile High Crew. KCP was crucial to the NBA Championship in 2023, but Christian Braun proved that he may have the same influence on Sunday night against his former teammate.

Despite coach Michael Malone not awarding Braun the starting ground right away, which also indicates that the 2nd year of Guard Julian Strawther could fight for the starting place, the former Jayhawk has been a blessing in disguise for Denver. Braun has been fantastic for most of the year of nuggets, but Orlando may have some buyers’ remorse at KCP.

Caldwell-Pope’s shooting has fallen from a cliff this season for Magic as he has on average only 9.1 ppg on a good below average 31.6 % shooting from beyond the arch. This is after KCP had an average of double -digit scoring figures in each of its seasons with Denver to go with 41.5 % shooting on three points. Sunday night against Braun he also fought.

Braun notes an impressive double-double and game-high in points against Orlando

When he faced one of his mentors, Braun was probably locked from the tip, but he was excellent in all aspects of the game. 6’6 “The wing lost 20 points and pulled 11 rebounds into its 36 minutes, which also secured +22 +/- in the process, which led all the players in the game. The Nuggets eventually beat Magic 113-100 Behind Braun’s masterpiece.

With regard to KCP, he shot a disappointing 4/14 from the field and 2/7 from deep, guarded by Braun in a good part of the game. The younger player certainly played with more energy at night and continued his skill to quick breakpoint and transitional games. In fact, Braun is still in 3rd place throughout the NBA with quick breakpoints per day. Fight of 4.8.

So far this season, Braun has fit perfectly into the nugget’s starting five and has seen its role ebb and flow based on which other Denver players are healthy and in the lineup or out due to injury or illness. His performance this season is about as good as a result that Nuggets fans could have asked for, and Nuggets are only two matches from 2nd seed in the west.

Braun gets his next opportunity to impress Tuesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers in Mile High City.