Christian Braun will miss extended time with ankle injury

Denver Nuggets ironman Christian Braun will be sidelined for the rest of 2025, making it a sour ending to a great year

Nov 14, 2025, 4:11 PM

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Denver Nuggets ironman Christian Braun will be sidelined for the rest of 2025, making it a sour ending to a great year for the team’s starting shooting guard.

Braun will miss at least the next six weeks with a left ankle sprain, as the team shared that their’ two guard will be reevaluated in late December.

Braun left Wednesday’s win against the Los Angeles Clippers with the injury after trying to play through it and realizing it was not possible. He has only missed three games over the last three seasons and ten games over his entire career.

Braun just signed a five-year, $125 million contract extension right before the season began, ensuring he would not hit restricted free agency this summer. The 24-year-old out of Kansas had the best season of his career last year when he was called upon to step up as a full-time starter at shooting guard, taking over for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He responded by setting career highs in field goal percentage (58.0%) and 3-point percentage (39.7%) while doubling his points per game from 7.3 to 15.4.

Standing at 6-foot-6, he’s been one of the best defenders on the floor for Denver since he got to the Mile High City, and his absence will be felt by the third-best defense in the league, according to the ratings as of Friday. The Nuggets will also miss his strong athleticism, which has shown in his ability to get to and finish at the rim, making him one of the best fastbreak scorers in the league.

Braun has been off to a slow start this year on offense, but hasn’t gotten in the way of the NBA’s second-best offensive rating, held by Denver. He’s shot just 21% from deep on limited attempts and his scoring has declined to 11 points a game.

Where does the Christian Braun injury leave the Nuggets?

Most likely stepping into Braun’s place will be a less defensive-focused player, but a great shooter in Tim Hardaway Jr. The veteran started 77 games last year for the playoff-Pistons, scoring 11 a game in 28 minutes of average action. THJ is averaging 11 a game early into this season off the bench, only playing 23 minutes a night, but shooting a career-best 46% from deep thus far.

Two-way wing Spencer Jones also got more minutes because of Braun’s injury, and this may open up some playing time for Julian Strawther. Peyton Watson also could be an option if David Adleman wants to go bigger and focus on defense.

All of those names may need to step up anyway, as Cameron Johnson also exited Wednesday’s win, and his status has not yet been shared.

If the Nuggets are lucky, they may get Braun back right around their longest road trip of the year. They'll have about 45-50 games left to play after this stretch pic.twitter.com/CZjul8vz2S

— Jake Shapiro, but festive 👻🦃🎄 (@Shapalicious) November 14, 2025