Christian Braun Has Bold Take on Nuggets’ NBA Title Hopes

The Denver Nuggets are entering the 2025-26 NBA regular season looking refreshed and revitalized for another run at a championship title.

At its core, the Nuggets are still established with the same foundation they went all the way with in 2023. Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon reside at the top, but there's a few notable changes compared to two years ago to give this Nuggets group a breath of fresh air.

Among those shifts, Michael Porter Jr. got swapped out on the wing for Cameron Johnson, new veterans like Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas were added down the depth chart, and thus, allowing the Nuggets to look more well-rounded and suited for a deep playoff run compared to how the end result panned out only a few months ago.

In the mind of Nuggets' fourth-year wing Christian Braun, who was on board as a rookie during the Nuggets' 2023 run, he's clearly a fan of the offseason Denver had. In fact, he envisions this incoming roster to have the perfect combination of talent on the floor to reach those championship heights once again.

"This year, everything everybody in this locker room has wanted, we have," Braun said during his media day presser. "Everything we need is inside of our locker room right now. We have new energy, new coaches, new players. We've got shooting, we've got defense, we've got literally everything we've ever asked for."

"Everything everybody in this locker room has wanted, we have." - Christian Braun

"We've got shooting, we've got defense, we've got everything." 🏆 pic.twitter.com/62Oen5HOxS
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) September 29, 2025

A confident, yet refreshing statement from the Nuggets' third-year wing, who looks to be a critical part of that versatile, well-balanced lineup Denver will be set to throw out on opening night.

And this year could be Braun's most important in the NBA yet.

It'll be his second year as a nightly starter on a championship-ready team, will be riding out the last year of his rookie contract with hopes of a big payday next summer, and is on a roster with what he views as the right combination to land his second ring through four years in the league.

Sep 29, 2025; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets player Christian Braun (0) poses for a picture during media day at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The key to kicking off those championship ambitions, for Braun, centers on keeping the focus forward; not looking back at past mistakes from last year, and instead looking ahead to how their current group can get better during a year without any excuses.

"I don't want to look back and try to blame whatever it was last year, or the year before that. Let's just go do it this year. I think that's the biggest point. Make sure it's a no-excuse year."

"There's not many opportunities we're going to have a team this talented and this deep. So, we've got to take the most out of each opportunity, and make the most out of this team that we have this year."

Braun, clearly hungry for a big year for both himself and the Nuggets as a whole, has high stakes on the horizon. Time will tell if this group meet the mark on those steep expectations.

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