Why Denver Nuggets picked up Kansas basketball's Christian Braun in first round of 2022 NBA draft

LAWRENCE — There’s something to being one of the leading scorers for the national champion, Kansas coach Bill Self is musing, as he’s talking about Christian Braun.

It’s June 23, the night of the 2022 NBA draft, not long after the Denver Nuggets drafted Braun with the 21st overall pick. Positive momentum surrounding Braun through the draft process, that saw him invited to the NBA combine and that Self is mentioning as well, manifested itself with Braun’s first-round selection.

And, as Self muses, he volunteers that producing as Braun did this past season has a noticeable effect on whether someone like Braun is drafted.

Self said he’d told Braun, only a junior in college this past season, Braun should test the NBA draft process with complete commitment. Self thought Braun would have anyway but aimed to reinforce the belief Braun should discover his potential fate. And once that process began to unfold, it became obvious to Self that Braun wasn’t going to return to the Jayhawks.

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But, as Self would also explain that night, there is more to Braun’s fit at the professional level with Denver. That night, and in the days that followed, Braun and members of the Nuggets’ front office spoke to that. In a period of time following the draft that lends itself to excitement about the future, the discussions about Braun certainly lived up to that.

“NBA-ready guy, winner, played 40 minutes in the national championship game, checks many, many boxes, great body, plays hard, big cojones,” Jim Clibanoff, Denver’s vice president of scouting, said in a video posted to the team’s Twitter account. “I mean, he’s just — we search for guys like this. We wanted to get bigger in the back court, he can play at the 2-spot, he can play at the 3-spot, but he can really join our rotation now.

"He’s not one of these wait and see projects. So, plug and play.”

Braun described being drafted by the Nuggets in a media availability as a dream come true. He likes the winning mentality the franchise, which has reached the playoffs each of the past four seasons, has. He pointed to the organization taking pride in being competitive on both ends of the floor, and its desire in wanting to win a championship.

Braun believes he can help make that title happen, and that Denver is ready to win immediately. In addition to other pieces of the roster, there’s a certain back-to-back MVP talent in Nikola Jokic. Jokic is someone who Braun considers capable of making everyone on the court both look better, and play better.

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Braun noted that Jokic is a two-time MVP for a reason. Braun’s looking forward to being able to learn from Jokic, and other teammates, too. Even if Braun spends some time in the G League as he develops, something Denver general manager Calvin Booth alluded to being a possibility in a separate Nuggets video on Twitter, Braun expressed a mindset that wouldn’t be deterred by that.

“It’s all a part of the process,” said Braun, reacting to the notion he may spend time riding the bench in the NBA as well. “You can’t skip those things. You just got to get better every day, and just find a way to impact winning on whatever level that is — whether that’s on the bench, whether it’s in practice, you just got to get better every day and find a way to make your mark on the Denver Nuggets.

"And then, once you do those things, obviously the team goes in the right direction.”

What should allow Braun to compete right away for playing time, is his versatility. Braun, described on Denver’s portion of nba.com as a 6-foot-6 combo guard/forward, is someone who can defend multiple position on one end of the court. On the other, he can knock down 3s and more.

Booth saw, as the playoffs progressed, examples of just how important size, length and athleticism are. He mentioned players understanding how to think about the game the right way, and being willing to play defense. As the draft progressed, he said members of the organization crossed their fingers as they hoped their targets would still be available.

“I think (Braun) has the right approach,” said Booth, who also praised that Braun comes from a program like Kansas. “I think he’s going to bring his hard-hat and lunch pail and try to do the best he can to earn minutes.”

And as Braun does, he’ll likely continue to think about the championship he won earlier this year in college at Kansas. Being from the state, he took so much pride in putting the Jayhawks jersey on. Capturing a title was a goal of his, for his career there.

“That just makes me want to win at the next level even more,” Braun said. “I know that this team’s in a really great position, and have a lot of great players, so I know that’s all of our goals is to come out and win a NBA championship now. So, that’s what, from today forward, we’re going to be working towards and we’re all excited to work towards that goal.”

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: Why Christian Braun landed with Denver in the 2022 NBA draft