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Denver Nuggets select Christian Braun with 21st pick in 1st round of 2022 NBA draft

jordan guskey, topeka capital-journal
·4 min read
Kansas guard Christian Braun (2) drives to the basket against Villanova at the Final Four on April 2 in New Orleans. Braun's play there, and during the postseason, helped set him up for his professional career.
Kansas guard Christian Braun (2) drives to the basket against Villanova at the Final Four on April 2 in New Orleans. Braun's play there, and during the postseason, helped set him up for his professional career.

LAWRENCE — Kansas men’s basketball now has two players selected in the 2022 NBA draft, after the Denver Nuggets chose Christian Braun with the 21st pick in the first round.

Braun follows Ochai Agbaji, who was picked up earlier in the night Thursday with the 14th selection in the first round by the Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s the first time two Jayhawks have been chosen in the same draft since Devonte' Graham and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk in 2018. And it means that Kansas has had multiple players picked in the same draft three times in six years.

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"Man, it feels great," Braun said on the ABC broadcast of the draft. "I'm just grateful for the support, coach (Bill) Self being here, and just all of my people that are here. I'm just grateful for all of those people, and it feels great."

Self, Braun's coach with the Jayhawks, added on the broadcast about what Denver is getting: "They're getting a competitor, a toughness, a guy that knows how to play. And his ceiling is still way up here. So, I think everybody associated with that organization has got to be pretty happy right now."

Kansas guard Christian Braun cuts down part of the net on March 27 in Chicago, after the Jayhawks topped Miami to advance to the Final Four. Braun helped lead the Jayhawks to the national title.
Kansas guard Christian Braun cuts down part of the net on March 27 in Chicago, after the Jayhawks topped Miami to advance to the Final Four. Braun helped lead the Jayhawks to the national title.

Braun entered the NBA draft process after three seasons in Lawrence, and with a national title in tow. Projections seemed to indicate he’d either be a late first round or early second round selection, and he only helped his cause with his performance at the NBA’s draft combine. There, he represented the Jayhawks alongside Agbaji and Jalen Wilson, who returned to KU.

Braun earned his spot at the combine because of what he was able to do for Kansas, and potentially because of how he fit the mold of a 3-and-D player at the next level. Buoyed by an unmistakable confidence, Braun averaged 14.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He shot 49.5% from the field and 38.6% from behind the arc, for a team that won the Big 12 Conference tournament and captured a share of the conference’s regular season title.

Braun’s play during the postseason saw him end up as a member of the all-region team for the Midwest region of the NCAA tournament, and a member of the Big 12’s all-tournament team. He received all-conference recognition for his play during the season as well, just as he did the past two seasons. The junior started 39 games for the national champions, just like Agbaji did.

“It’s been great,” Braun told Andy Katz in May, about his potential as a NBA player, in a video posted to Katz’ Twitter account for NBA TV. “It’s been a joy just to be around Lawrence, around the community. Everybody seems to be in a better mood, since we won. But it’s been great.”

Braun, explaining how his battled to enjoy that success during the postseason, added: “We have a really resilient team. When you’ve got guys like (Agbaji), guys like Jalen Wilson, (David McCormack), that really come to play, come to fight every half, we never really worry too much. I would say that those guys keep us kind of steady.

"Me and Jalen like to turn it up a little bit. But we never thought we would lose. We’ve been in those spots before. We hadn’t done it in the national championship game obviously, but at K-State, we were down more than that. So, we were always confident we could come back.”

Kansas guard Christian Braun (2) shoots past a Miami defender during the Elite Eight game March 27 in Chicago. Braun's postseason success is part of why he has his opportunity in the NBA.
Kansas guard Christian Braun (2) shoots past a Miami defender during the Elite Eight game March 27 in Chicago. Braun's postseason success is part of why he has his opportunity in the NBA.

Braun has now taken the next step of his professional journey, not long after another Kansas product was a part of a NBA title. Whether Braun will achieve what Andrew Wiggins has during his career, will be determined in time. But if Braun can, he’ll become the fifth talent to play for the Jayhawks who’s won both a NCAA and NBA championship.

What role Braun might have on a team that accomplishes that, if it’s the one he’s with now or a different one, is unclear. Maybe his NBA career path will follow that of his time at Kansas, and see him become a larger factor with each season.

And if that’s the case, he’ll be just the latest player to come out of Lawrence and sustain a long NBA career.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Denver Nuggets pick Christian Braun 21st overall in 2022 NBA draft