Christian Braun sinks a pair of threes in Denver Nuggets’ summer-league loss to Philly
Former Kansas men’s basketball shooting guard Christian Braun scored 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting in the Denver Nuggets’ 97-71 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday at the NBA 2K23 Summer League in Las Vegas.
The 6-foot-7, 21-year-old Braun, the No. 21 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, was 2 of 4 from three and 1 of 2 from the line. He also had six rebounds, six assists, four steals, four turnovers and one blocked shot in 24 minutes for (2-2) Denver.
Braun snapped a slump of sorts on shots taken beyond the arc. He entered 1 of 20 from three through the Nuggets’ first three summer-league games.
Braun is now 3 of 24 from three for 12.5% for the Nuggets who have one game left to play in Vegas.
Overall the Blue Valley Northwest grad has averaged 11.8 points a game on 30.4% shooting (17 of 56). He is 10 of 18 from the line for 55.6%. Braun has grabbed 6.0 rebounds per game with 4.5 assists against 2.5 turnovers.
Ryan Blackburn of milehighhoops.com is not concerned about Braun’s shooting percentages in summer-league games, which are designed to slowly acclimate draftees and free agents to professional basketball.
“Fortunately for Braun, there’s pretty strong evidence that outside shooting numbers don’t really matter that much in Summer League. Zeke Nnaji shot an absolutely horrible percentage on outside shots last summer and proceeded to hit 46.9% of his threes during the 2021-22 regular season,” Blackburn wrote after the Nuggets’ second summer game. Braun at that point was 1 of 15 from three.
“Role changes and comfort levels will shift drastically from a summer setting to a professional setting, and as Braun continues to find his niche, it’s possible that the three-pointer also comes back into focus a bit. I’d wager it’s likely,” Blackburn added.
“Summer League is of course overreaction hour, but with Braun, it’s difficult to overreact about much. What he’s shown to this point should give Nuggets fans some optimism about his ability to play rotation minutes sooner than later. Most of his minutes will be tied to how he impacts the defensive end, but there’s no doubt that he can impact the game in transition now while using his cutting and slashing to hold his offense above water. Is it enough to guarantee he plays playoff minutes? It’s of course way too early for that. But it sure is fun to think about Braun’s next April, May, and June when we’re still in July,” Blackburn continued.
Braun — he averaged 14.1 points on 49.5% shooting (38.6% from three; 73.3% from line) for KU’s 2022 national championship team — told a reporter from KU’s official Twitter account that during these games in Vegas he gets “to do a little more than I have in the past, just because it’s summer league. I get to experiment a little bit and (still) stay true to who I am. I want to win games, get to know my teammates, show my personality, finish maybe shooting a little better than I have been.”
Also on Friday, former KU guard Devon Dotson did not play (coach’s decision) in the Washington Wizards’ 97-79 win over the Indiana Pacers. And former KU guard Marcus Garrett also did not play (coach’s decision) in Miami’s 88-78 loss to Toronto. Dotson, a third-year pro and Garrett, a second-year pro, are trying to earn guaranteed deals with the Wizards and Heat respectively.
This story was originally published July 15, 2022 at 11:44 PM with the headline "Christian Braun sinks a pair of threes in Denver Nuggets’ summer-league loss to Philly."
