Is Christian Braun The Denver Nuggets’ Latest NBA Draft Steal?

At first look on the basketball court docket, there could not appear to be a complete lot in widespread between Denver Nuggets rookie Christian Braun, a defensive wing recognized for his toughness, athleticism and hustle, and his second-year teammate Bones Hyland, a long-range sharpshooting guard who’s a hooper to the core.

However one trait which it’s trying more and more probably that they share is that each could finally show to have a considerably increased on-court worth of their NBA careers than the late first spherical place of the draft picks they had been chosen with may counsel.

Merely put, the Nuggets could have landed themselves important draft steals in two consecutive years.

Hyland was chosen with the twenty sixth choose within the 2021 NBA Draft after a formidable two-year run with the Virginia Commonwealth College Rams, and upon becoming a member of the Nuggets, wasted little time in rapidly turning into a beloved fan favourite with each his infectious character and the constructive on-court affect he created for Denver as a rookie, particularly flourishing after taking up backup level guard duties halfway by the season.

Braun, drafted with the twenty first choose in June, and now simply three video games into his skilled NBA profession, is already making a major mark for Denver, significantly on the defensive finish, and has accomplished so earlier than many anticipated even contemplating the championship pedigree he earned earlier this 12 months with the Kansas College Jayhawks.

Earlier than being drafted, each gamers had been projected by most distinguished draft analysts to be picked within the late-first or early-second spherical, and each had been certainly finally chosen within the 20s, close to the higher finish of that vary. However actually within the case of Hyland (with a a lot bigger pattern of video games at this level), there’s a powerful case to be made that he in truth is at minimal a late-lottery caliber expertise who merited (however didn’t obtain) on of these coveted NBA draft inexperienced room invites.

And early as it’s, now Braun as effectively is displaying indicators that he might need extra fittingly been drafted increased than he really was.

Throughout final 12 months’s preseason, when Bones Hyland first began displaying for the Nuggets the flashes of his upside that he would later extra totally display in higher-leverage conditions, I wrote for Forbes that he appeared like he simply is perhaps one of many large steals of the 2021 draft.

And based mostly on the outcomes from a group of mock 2021 “redrafts” through which draft analysts undergo the method of re-selecting the category within the order they “ought to have” been chosen on reflection, Hyland has certainly carried out at a degree the place he’s now esteemed as a considerably increased high quality participant than the twenty sixth choose he was really taken with.

Because the chart above reveals, and common of 5 totally different 2021 redrafts lands Hyland on the cusp of lottery choose territory, simply over 11 spots above his true draft place. This places him squarely in “draft steal” territory, a standing well-earned by his commendable play as a rookie which earned him a bigger position this season.

And whereas it’s far too quickly to do the same re-draft train with the 2022 class, the nascent indications of the path Braun’s developmental monitor is heading are practically all pointing up in significant methods, and his degree of NBA-readiness appears to be off the charts, even when just a few youthful errors present up right here and there.

“Christian Braun is a rookie who’s rising up fairly rapidly on this league,” head coach Michael Malone stated after Denver’s latest home-opening win over the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder. “It is nice to see him step in and shoot these pictures with confidence.”

These pictures Malone refers to had been a trio of three-pointers in Braun’s second-half stint in opposition to OKC, the primary of which was his first made three within the NBA, however all of which had been important in serving to the Nuggets keep afloat in what ended up being an uncomfortably shut recreation.

“They made good passes, and [OKC] performed off of me,” Braun stated after the sport. “Jok [Nikola Jokic] had skips to the nook. When Jok hits you with them skip passes, you must shoot them.”

Malone expanded on how he had urged Braun to maintain taking pictures: “When he got here out, I stated, ‘hear, make or miss, you must take that shot as a result of it is a good shot and you’re employed your ass off every single day.’”

“And tonight, he stepped in with nice confidence and that was enjoyable to look at,” Malone added.

Along with the worth of Braun hitting his pictures, one thing which can solely assist to solidify his place in Denver’s rotation, he has maybe simply as importantly in a short time begun incomes the belief of back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic, which is critically important for any participant he shares the court docket with, in addition to Malone and seasoned veterans like Jeff Inexperienced.

An enormous a part of gaining that belief from his teammates and coaches is simply how good, essentially sound, and within-the-flow Braun has confirmed to play practically from second one.

Within the sequences under, for instance, there are about 20 issues he simply “does proper” as these performs unfold, from persistently feeding the ball to Jokic within the submit, to getting straight to his (appropriate) spots on the ground, to denying the ball to his defensive task on the perimeter, to monitoring the passing lanes for the steal, to selflessly passing up worse pictures to create higher ones for his teammates, and far more, all within the span of about two minutes of taking part in time.

Though each Malone and Jokic have reputations (whether or not pretty earned or not) for having confidence points with youthful, less-experienced gamers, it certainly appears they’ve each already opened the door to let Braun into their circle of belief.

In Malone’s case, that is in no small half due to Braun’s relentless effort, hustle and (importantly) effectiveness on the defensive finish of the court docket, which was on full show in Denver’s hard-earned highway win on the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

The truth that Malone entrusted Braun with guarding not solely microwave scorer (and typically Nuggets-killer) Jordan Poole, but in addition two of the best shooters in NBA historical past in Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, speaks volumes about simply how a lot religion he has within the rookie.

Final season, from January 28 onward when he took over the position because the Nuggets’ full-time backup level guard, Hyland averaged 11.9 factors, 3.0 rebounds and three.9 assists with 2.1 made three-pointers on a .392 share from deep on his strategy to being named to the NBA All-Rookie second staff.

As a result of a lot of Braun’s affect and effectiveness on the court docket reveals up extra within the eye check than on the stat sheet, it’s arduous to know at this early stage whether or not he’ll get the identical sort of recognition as Hyland even when he qualitatively has simply pretty much as good of a rookie season.

However one among my 2022-23 Nuggets predictions was that Braun would go fellow wing Davon Reed in Denver’s rotation by the All-Star break, and judging by their minutes totals to date (41 and 19, respectively), he’s already forward of schedule in cementing a daily spot. And assuming that continues, which is cheap based mostly on simply how effectively he’s began his younger NBA profession, Braun ought to have each alternative to show that he, like Bones, was one more Denver Nuggets draft steal.