Denver Sports Today

Denver Sports News Continuously Updated

Christian Braun Is Having An All-Time Shooting Season

by

With Kentavious Caldwell-Pope heading to the Orlando Magic in the offseason, the Denver Nuggets were losing their starting shooting guard from the previous two seasons, including their championship team. While the loss stung, Denver also knew they had a replacement for him on their roster. That would be Christian Braun, who is now in his third season. A key reserve for the Nuggets in the prior two years, Braun has aced the test of becoming a starter with flying colors this season.

Christian Braun Is Having An All-Time Shooting Season

Christian Braun Is Showing Shooting Ability Rarely Seen Before

Playing against a short-handed Los Angeles Lakers team on Friday, LA fought valiantly, but Denver prevailed with a 131-126 victory. The 23-year-old Braun had quite an efficient evening against the Lakers. He finished with 22 points on 9-10 shooting from the field, 2-3 from beyond the arc, and 2-2 from the free-throw line.

While Braun certainly has been an efficient scorer all season, of course it hasn’t been at that level throughout. Still, he has very impressive shooting marks on the season. In his 66 outings, Braun has shot 57.0% from the field, 38.7% from three-point range, and 82.6% from the charity stripe while averaging 15.3 points.

True shooting percentage is a measure that shows just how efficient a player’s scoring is by accounting for field goals, three-pointers, and free throws. On the season, Braun has a true shooting mark of 65.5%. If that sounds really good to you, that’s because it is.

Just how remarkable is it? According to StatMamba, it would be the second-highest highest ever for a guard who has averaged at least 15 points per contest. Only Stephen Curry in 2015-16 (66,9%)  has a higher true shooting percentage by a guard averaging 15 points. (Curry did also have a higher percentage in 2017-18, but didn’t qualify for scoring title as he played just 51 games.)

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Of course, Curry is seen as the best shooter of all-time. Braun isn’t in the same stratosphere yet, but he’s definitely made it clear that he deserves his spot in Denver’s starting lineup.

Breakout Third Season

Playing collegiately for the Kansas Jayhawks, Braun provided much value in his first two seasons, mostly being utilized as a reserve. He received the third-most bench minutes on Denver’s 2022-23 championship team.

While he showed above-average efficiency, it wasn’t close to what he has displayed this season. As a rookie, his true shooting mark was at 56.8%. In his second year, it dipped a tad to 55.4%. It has gone up 10.1% this season. He has shot well from deep, but Braun is making an outstanding 63.7% of his two-point tries.

He’s remained a mainstay in the lineup. After playing in all 82 games in 2023-24, Braun has missed just one this season. After starting a combined 10 games in his first two seasons, Braun has started 64 in 2024-25.

With a 43-24 record, the Nuggets currently have the second-best record in the Western Conference. There is no chance for them to catch the Oklahoma City Thunder. Denver will need to continue to win to hold off the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies (one game back of Denver) as well as the Los Angeles Lakers (two games back).

The Nuggets would love to hold on to that second seed. Christian Braun will have a large role in the team being able to do just that.

Photo credit: © Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The post Christian Braun Is Having An All-Time Shooting Season appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.