Christian Braun

Christian Braun

23-Year-Old GuardG
Denver Nuggets
GTD
Injury Back
Est. Return 12/22/2024
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Braun enters the 2024-25 season with an exciting opportunity. The former Kansas standout spent the first two years of his NBA career as a depth option for the Nuggets, sitting behind Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. However, the latter signed with the Magic in the offseason, so Braun is slated to open the campaign as the starting shooting guard for one of the best teams in the Western Conference -- and a true championship contender. Braun experienced a statistical jump from his rookie to sophomore year, seeing increases in virtually every major category except steals per game and field-goal percentage. Braun won't hold a prominent role in an offense with two of the best offensive players in the league, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. In fact, the most likely scenario is that Braun will operate as the fifth scoring option. Regardless, the upgrade to a starting role should translate to a massive jump in his fantasy upside, particularly since he's a player who does all the little things well. If he can continue to shoot well from three-point range after making a career-high 38.4 percent of his attempts in 2023-24, Braun could go from being a player not worth targeting in 2023-24 to someone who could be worth a late pick in all formats this season. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Current Season
From Preseason
#159
ADP
$Signed a two-year, $5.76 million contract with the Nuggets in July of 2022. Nuggets exercised $3.09 million team option for 2024-25 in October of 2023. Nuggets exercised $4.92 million team option for 2025-26 in October of 2024.
Personal Bio/PreCareer Summary

Braun was born on April 17, 2001, in Burlington, Kansas. He played basketball for Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas. As a senior, he averaged 27.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, leading his team to a third straight Class 6A state title. He was named Mr. Kansas Basketball and Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year. Braun decided to stay close to home, committing to play ball for Kansas over offers from Kansas State, Illinois and Missouri, among others. As a freshman, Braun averaged 5.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, earning Big 12 All-Freshman Team honors. He gained a bigger role as a sophomore, averaging 9.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He was named to the Second Team All-Big 12 as a junior. He reached a milestone during the Final Four against Villanova, becoming the 65th player to reach 1,000 points for Kansas, finishing that game with 10 points and helping the Jayhawks reach the Finals. In the Finals against North Carolina, he had 12 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season, which helped Kansas rally from a 40-25 halftime deficit. In the final possession of that game, he defended Caleb Love's three-point attempt, sealing the win and giving him his first NCAA title. On April 24, 2022, Braun declared for the 2022 NBA Draft, while maintaining his college eligibility. On May 25, 2022, he confirmed he would remain in the NBA draft and forego his senior season. Braun was picked by the Denver Nuggets with the 21st overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft.

Likely to play Sunday
GDenver Nuggets
Back
December 21, 2024
Braun is probable for Sunday's game against the Pelicans due to a lower back strain.
ANALYSIS
Braun has been dealing with a lower back injury for almost a week and has already missed a game due to the issue. However, he's expected to face the Pelicans on Sunday for the first leg of a back-to-back set. He played just 24 minutes in the Nuggets' most recent game, which is significantly lower than his average of 34.3 minutes per game this year.
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2024
2023
2022
Stat Review
How does Christian Braun compare to other players?
This section compares his stats with all players from the previous three seasons (minimum 200 minutes played)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
  • True Shooting %
    An advanced statistic that measures a player's efficiency at shooting the ball that takes field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three point percentage into account.
  • Effective Field Goal %
    A statistic that adjusts field goal percentage to account for the fact that three-point field goals count for three points while field goals only count for two points.
  • 3-Point Attempt Rate
    Percentage of field goal attempts from three point range.
  • Free Throw Rate
    Number of free throw attempts per field goal attempt.
  • Offensive Rebound %
    An estimate of the percentage of available offensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
  • Defensive Rebound %
    An estimate of the percentage of available defensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
  • Total Rebound %
    An estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
  • Assist %
    An estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while they were on the floor.
  • Steal %
    An estimate of the percentage of opponent possessions that end with a steal by the player while they were on the floor.
  • Block %
    An estimate of the percentage of opponent two-point field goal attempts blocked by the player while they were on the floor.
  • Turnover %
    An estimate of turnovers committed per 100 plays.
  • Usage %
    An estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while they were on the floor.
  • Fantasy Points Per Game
    NBA Fantasy Points Per Game.
  • Fantasy Points Per Minute
    NBA Fantasy Points Per Minute.
True Shooting %
65.2%
 
Effective Field Goal %
61.8%
 
3-Point Attempt Rate
26.6%
 
Free Throw Rate
32.4%
 
Offensive Rebound %
3.7%
 
Defensive Rebound %
11.7%
 
Total Rebound %
7.8%
 
Assist %
7.0%
 
Steal %
1.5%
 
Block %
1.7%
 
Turnover %
9.1%
 
Usage %
15.7%
 
Fantasy Points Per Game
28.0
 
Fantasy Points Per Minute
0.8
 
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Total
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Per 36
NBA Historical Fantasy Stats
How are these ratings calculated?
Our historical fantasy ratings are standard scores calculated using 8-Category settings with 12 teams and 13 players per team.
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Historical ADP
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Nuggets Depth Chart
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Nuggets Rotation: Minutes Breakdown
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Average Fantasy Points
Average Fantasy Points are determined when Christian Braun was active vs. non-active during the season. Click here to view average fantasy points for a different time period.
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
Although Braun's rookie season was a little underwhelming, he was able to carve out a solid role for himself, even deep into the playoffs. He ended outside the top 350 in nine-category leagues, averaging 4.7 points and 2.4 rebounds in just 15.5 minutes per night. However, he upped that to 20 minutes per night over the final month of the regular season, jumping inside the top 250. With Bruce Brown now in Indiana and only Reggie Jackson and possibly Justin Holiday to compete with for playing time, Braun could certainly feature more prominently from opening night. He is not someone who needs to be drafted outside of deeper formats but is worth keeping an eye on given his ability to chip in across multiple categories.
A three-year wing out of Kansas, Braun was selected with the 21st pick in the 2022 Draft by the Nuggets. While there are questions about his ability to score at volume at the NBA level, he should be an effective catch-and-shoot three option at a minimum. However, he also has the athleticism to drive, cut hard to the basket and make plays in transition. Braun was a strong defender in college, as well. He'll fight for backup minutes against Bruce Brown and Bones Hyland, but there's a chance Braun is a meaningful part of the rotation as a rookie. Playing with a savvy passer like Nikola Jokic should allow Braun to utilize his three-point shooting and athleticism effectively without needing to handle the ball. Fantasy managers in deep leagues have a reason to think about Braun with a final pick. If Kentavious Caldwell-Pope suffers an injury, Braun could be the next man up in the starting five.
More Fantasy News
Posts 13 points in return to action
GDenver Nuggets
December 20, 2024
Braun notched 13 points (5-10 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 2-2 FT), four rebounds, one assist and one steal in 24 minutes during Thursday's 126-124 loss to the Trail Blazers.
ANALYSIS
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Officially available
GDenver Nuggets
December 19, 2024
Braun (back) has been cleared to play Thursday against the Trail Blazers.
ANALYSIS
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Trending toward playing
GDenver Nuggets
Back
December 19, 2024
Braun (back) will likely play in Thursday's game against Portland, Katy Winge of Altitude Sports reports.
ANALYSIS
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Deemed questionable
GDenver Nuggets
Back
December 18, 2024
Braun (back) is listed as questionable for Thursday's game against the Trail Blazers.
ANALYSIS
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Ruled out Monday
GDenver Nuggets
Back
December 16, 2024
Braun (back) has been ruled out for Monday's game against the Kings.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Starting spot still up for grabs
GDenver Nuggets
October 23, 2024
Braun has not been officially named the Nuggets' starting shooting guard by coach Michael Malone, Ryan Blackburn of MileHighSports.com reports.
ANALYSIS
While Braun is viewed as the overwhelming favorite to take over the job due to his defense, Malone has made a point to leave the door open for Julian Strawther to claim the spot instead. Whether the coach is keeping his cards close to his vest as a motivational tactic for Braun as the Kansas product heads into his third NBA season, or whether the duo might swap in and out of the starting five depending on matchups, remains to be seen.
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