Christian Braun likely won't win Most Improved, but he might hold the Nuggets future together

The NBA Most Improved Player award has been broken since Ja Morant won it in 2022. I like the traditionalist model, which assumes first and second-overall draft picks should ascend to that level and not be in the running for the award.

But even if you don't subscribe to that notion, Morant had averaged 30 points a game in a playoff series before winning the award. He was already excellent.

The spirit of the award is for players like Dyson Daniels, Ivica Zubac and Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun. It's not one of the front runners, Cade Cunningham, in this year's race, who was already a monster in the second half of last season. The Pistons' improvement doesn't mean a first-overall pick should win the award. 

Braun won't take the Most Improved crown home, but his improvements give Denver hope for the future. The fit with Jokic is perfect. If Braun's development stays on an upward trajectory, he could be a mini-Andre Iguodala from the Warriors dynasty.

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Christian Braun has improved with the best of them

Braun won't be the passer and decision-maker Iggy was in Golden State, but that wasn't the only thing he brought to the table. When the Warriors needed a key stop, Iggy stepped up.

Braun has been the Nuggets' go-to stopper all year. He slides his feet using his moose shoulders to keep scorers in front of him. Braun doesn't regularly get knocked off his path when scorers attempt to drop their shoulders and get by him. 

Staying out of foul trouble is a key component of being a standout point-of-attack defender. Braun's 2.5 foul percentage ranks in the 75th percentile amongst wings, per Cleaning the Glass.

Perimeter defense was his calling card in the first two years of his career. It still is, and he's shown massive improvement in locking up without fouling. Braun can be the wing stopper of the present and the future with his relentless intensity in taking tough assignments.

Braun's innate cutting skills complement Jokic. Though Braun has shot the ball efficiently over the past two seasons, defenses still leave him. Braun doesn't play into their hands, stating stationary; he's an expert at finding open space and throwing down rim-shaking finishes. 

Raising your finishing ability by 12 percent on double the volume is Most Improved behavior. Braun shooting 72 percent at the cup this season with downhill attacks, cuts into space, and playing off Jokic shows how invaluable he is to Denver.

No one on the roster guards the top weapons and finishes at the cup as he does at his age on the team. Aaron Gordon does both, but he's peaked as a player. Gordon also doesn't shoot the rock like Braun does.

Two-way players who keep defenses honest are dream fits next to Jokic. Teams still sag off Braun, daring him to shoot, but he's giving them everything they can ask for—Braun's shot above 38 percent from three the last two seasons. 

His improvement comes in the volume department, as Braun shot 224 3-pointers compared to 164 last season. Hovering around 40 percent will shift the defense eventually. It's hard to dismantle a reputation as a non-shooter. Brauns's increased volume is still lower than the other two guards around the league.

The upcoming matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers could be Braun's coming out party. It's not the brightest game plan to double Jokic because he carves those up like it's the fourth Thursday in November.

Braun will get a shot to show his improvements across the board on one of the biggest stages. Braun was alongside Jokic and Jamal Murray, assisting the duo in the Nuggets first championship. But his role is bigger now. Braun is more crucial to the squad's success. It's his time to put the world on notice.