Nuggets ink Christian Braun to long-term extension

The Denver Nuggets and Christian Braun agreed to terms on a five-year, $125 million contract extension on Monday, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

With this extension finally getting signed, the Nuggets now have their starting five locked in through the end of the 2027 season: Braun, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Cameron Johnson.

Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun has agreed to a five-year, $125 million rookie contract extension with the franchise, agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball tells ESPN. pic.twitter.com/juTdk92le9

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 20, 2025

Monday afternoon was the deadline to get an extension done for all first-round picks from the 2022 NBA Draft. Braun was set to become a restricted free agent at the end of this season, but this new extension prevents opposing teams from even getting an offer out to him.

The 24-year-old out of Kansas is coming off the best season of his career. 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 will likely have to shoulder the defensive load alongside Aaron Gordon once again this year.

One of the new dynamics Braun added last year was taking his strong athleticism, along with his high IQ, and turning himself into one of the best fastbreak scorers in the league.

He showed as a rookie that he was ready to compete and step up to the various challenges of the NBA when he played an important role for the Nuggets during their pursuit of a championship in 2023, and he has proved that he’s one of the most tenacious players on the roster every year since.

Braun recently said that he doesn’t ‘want to be anywhere besides being a Denver Nugget’, a sentiment that is now closer to being true. To start his career, he’s been an iron man for Denver so far — playing in at least 76 games in all three seasons — he’s been solid on the defensive end and has improved on his offensive game. There was not going to be a better two-guard on the open market for the Nuggets to replace him with this offseason, and the front office did the right thing by getting him locked down for the future — even if the number was a bit steeper than some might have hoped.

This deal all but guarantees that the Nuggets will be a second-apron team in 2026-27 unless there are significant changes like declining Jonas Valanciunas’ and trading Zeke Nnaji’s salary. Even so, it’ll be a tight rope walk for Denver’s new front office if they’d like to stay under that restrictive barrier.

The contract is the final big step in an offseason of many moves in the Mile High City. Starting with Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace becoming co-leaders of the front office, David Adleman becoming the team’s new coach and the roster changing significantly for the first time in years. Braun is already one of the five longest tenured Nuggets.

And No. 0 is expected to be a key player for the Nuggets again this year — and likely for the years following — after Braun showed that he could withstand the increase in production a season ago. This deal needed to get done for the Nuggets, and now puts them in a position to have the same starting lineup for at least the next two years.

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