Kansas star works out for Pacers ahead of NBA Draft

INDIANAPOLIS — Drenched in sweat after a pre-draft exercise for the Pacers on Tuesday, Kansas standout Christian Braun cracked a sly smile as he mentioned his athletic household. His father, Donny, was a walk-on for the Jayhawks, and his mom, Lisa, was a three-time All-Huge Eight Convention honoree at Mizzou. Braun’s older brother, Parker, performs at Santa Clara, and his youthful brother, Landon, is subsequent in line.

However in relation to who has essentially the most bragging rights on the dinner desk, the reply is fairly clear.

“We clearly love one another first. There’s numerous a help I get from my mother, my dad, cousins, no matter it’s, household, buddies,” Braun mentioned. ” … However it’s clearly aggressive. I believe I stand alone with a nationwide championship now, to allow them to’t actually compete with that.”

As Braun took a lighthearted jab at his family members, he additionally mentioned how vital Kansas’ nationwide title run was for the subsequent stage of his profession. The Burlington, Kansas, native was already receiving nationwide consideration by taking part in at a Blue Blood program in his residence state, however serving to the Jayhawks win their first nationwide championship in 14 years solidified Braun as a respectable NBA Draft prospect and potential Pacers goal.

“There’s clearly numerous help from the state,” Braun mentioned of getting into the draft. “Plenty of help simply from the folks again residence.”

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Braun averaged career-highs of 14.1 factors, 6.5 rebounds and a pair of.8 assists per sport whereas taking pictures 49.5% and 38.6% on 3s throughout the 2021-22 season. The 6-7 guard performed all 40 minutes and scored 12 factors towards North Carolina within the nationwide championship sport, shining on a stage most gamers solely dream of.

After that sport, Braun felt he had nothing left to show or accomplish all through his three years of school. He reached his final objective, and as a projected late first-round or early second-round decide, it is time to chase new ones within the NBA.

“That is a as soon as in a lifetime factor,” Braun mentioned of Kansas’ fourth nationwide title. “Not lots of people get to expertise it, however the extra you go up, the extra folks have skilled it so that you get to narrate to extra folks. … The entire (draft) course of has been nice for me. Clearly I realized lots, and clearly a nationwide championship helps your resume fairly a bit.”

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Fittingly, Pacers president Kevin Pritchard additionally performed at Kansas and gained a nationwide title in 1988. However past sharing the same background, Pritchard and Co. probably wished to take a better have a look at Braun after his sturdy displaying on the NBA Draft Mix final month in Chicago.

The 21-year-old’s supreme athleticism and spectacular taking pictures bodes properly for the NBA, the place Braun believes he can excel as a 3-and-D swingman.

Indiana has the Nos. 6, 31 and 58 picks throughout the NBA Draft on June 23 and evaluated Braun alongside Oral Roberts’ Max Abmas, Northern Iowa’s A.J. Inexperienced, Belmont’s Grayson Murphy, Purdue’s Sasha Stefanovic (a Crown Level native) and Arizona’s Dalen Terry on Tuesday. Braun has additionally labored out for the Clippers and plans to showcase his expertise for extra franchises with the draft on the horizon.

“You sort of simply gotta take pleasure in day by day, each second,” Braun mentioned. “It is numerous journey, however you are clearly blessed to have this chance.”