The Denver Nuggets won one championship already with Nikola Jokic, and although their superstar center may have preferred his horses to a parade, the Nuggets have tried to get back to that stage again in recent seasons.
It hasn’t happened, though, and in a Western Conference led by the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves, it’s not clear whether it has any chance of happening anytime soon.
The Nuggets are still a solid team, and Jokic makes them tough to beat on any night, but their upside feels like it’s just a bit limited.
Part of the problem, as it turns out, may stem from Christian Braun and his contract.
Nuggets’ Christian Braun Contract Problem
Braun was a rising player when the Nuggets gave him a contract extension, but the deal was the kind that he’d have to grow into a star to really live up to.
At the moment, Braun doesn’t necessarily seem likely to reach those heights.
Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus recently named him as having one of the NBA’s six “terrible” contracts.
Braun is just beginning the first season of a five-year, $125 million deal — worth $25 million per year.
“Following the departures of players such as Michael Porter Jr., Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Peyton Watson, even a core featuring Jokić, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon has been unable to take Denver back to the NBA Finals,” Pincus writes. “The Nuggets hoped Christian Braun, their No. 21 pick in 2022, would take on a larger role. His five-year, $125 million rookie-scale extension begins this season with a $21.6 million salary. Unfortunately for Denver, Braun played just 44 games last season, and his three-point shooting dropped from 39.7 percent in 2024-25 to 30.1 percent. Given the open looks Jokić creates, the Nuggets need Braun to space the floor reliably. Their financial commitment to him could become a major obstacle if he doesn’t improve this season.”
The NBA often doesn’t have a lot of great players become available in free agency because most sign extensions with their current teams, which prompts other teams to sign their own players to extensions. It’s just that sometimes those players don’t take the necessary leap.
Jokic Trade Rumors
There won’t be any rumors of a Jokic trade yet, but they always seem to pop up at some point in the last few seasons. Basketball fans wonder whether Jokic would be better served elsewhere.
It’s the upside of players like Braun that could eventually decide how Denver approaches things with its superstar.
If the Nuggets don’t believe another title is coming in the Jokic era, maybe they choose to start from scratch. And if that happens, Braun’s inability to become more of a leading option on the floor will have contributed to that.
Nuggets Have $125 Million Problem