Can the Nuggets’ Young Trio Make Up For the Franchise’s Cost-Cutting Moves?
Since winning their first championship in 2022-23, the Denver Nuggets have allowed Bruce Brown, Jeff Green, and now Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (three of their top seven players in total minutes during the 2023 NBA playoffs) to walk in free agency.
All in the name of avoiding a hefty tax bill. Hell, they even parted ways with draft capital just to save a few bucks by getting off Reggie Jackson’s contract.
These moves are disappointing because the Nuggets have a strong nucleus – headlined by arguably the best player on the planet in Nikola Jokic – and with the right moves, they could ostensibly be competing for titles for years to come. However, the front office is limited by ownership’s clear prerogative to avoid paying the piper.
With that said, we’ve seen frugal franchises make deep runs before (have you ever seen the movie “Moneyball?”), and that is done by acquiring underrated players below their true market value.
Some could argue that they did that by adding Dario Saric and (soon) Russell Westbrook on light contracts. But at best, those gentlemen may be able to mimic the impact of Brown (Westbrook) and Green (Saric). That says nothing about who is going to fill the shoes of one of the best role players in the association in Caldwell-Pope.
Ultimately, if the Nuggets are going to remain in the title race in spite of ownership, it will come down to their young trio (who are all still on rookie-scale contracts) blossoming into impactful players in 2024-25.
The question now becomes: What are the odds of that actually happening?
(Sidebar No. 1: The Nuggets technically have a young foursome. Unfortunately, one head of the snake – DaRon Holmes II – is out for the season after suffering a torn Achilles during the Vegas Summer League.)
Christian Braun
Braun is the most obvious candidate to fill the shoes of Caldwell-Pope. He’s the most battle-tested of the troika (he already has 31 career playoff games under his belt), and he provides the best blend of two-way balance out of the three.
This is obvious when you look at DRIP outputs. Peyton Watson has a slightly higher defensive DRIP (plus-0.1) than Braun (0.0), but Braun has a higher lead offensive DRIP (O-DRIP). And while Julian Strawther has the same O-DRIP (minus-1.9), his defensive DRIP (D-DRIP) pales in comparison (-1.2).
Braun is a proven perimeter defender. Last postseason, he held the NBA’s favorite son, Anthony Edwards, to 4-of-12 shooting when he was guarding him (per NBA.com). That was one year after he relegated Jimmy Butler and Devin Booker to a combined 6 for 18.
He may not be as good at guarding slithery guards as Caldwell-Pope, but he’s arguably better at handling bigger/stronger wings/forwards. When you factor that in with the positional rim protection he offers (Braun was in the 55th percentile in block rate), he’s a worthy successor to Caldwell-Pope on defense.