The Nuggets are staring at a brutal financial squeeze this offseason, and Christian Braun’s new deal sits right in the middle of it.
Denver is the only NBA team above the second apron threshold, and with Braun’s five-year, $125 million contract now hitting at $21.5 million this season, the pressure only gets tighter. The Nuggets are already $3.15 million over the second apron, which puts them in line for an estimated ~$75 million tax bill. That figure is $17 million more than they’ve paid combined in the Nikola Jokic era.
That’s why Braun has surfaced as a possible trade chip if Denver needs to get out from under the number. One idea floated by salary cap expert Yossi Gozlan on his Third Apron Podcast points to the Memphis Grizzlies as a clean landing spot, thanks to their ability to absorb a big contract.
In Gozlan’s framework, the deal would send Christian Braun and the newly acquired 2031 unprotected first-round draft pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers to Memphis. In return, Denver would get Ty Jerome and the lesser of the Grizzlies’ 2027 first-round picks.
The financial upside is the real hook. A move like that would save the Nuggets $12.3 million against the cap.
If they also found a way to move Zeke Nnaji and packaged him with the second-round picks they’ve picked up this offseason, the savings would jump to $19.7 million against the cap. That would bring Denver under the luxury tax for a second straight season and reset the repeater tax that has been driving the bill higher.
It also gives the Nuggets a cleaner timeline. A 2027 first-round pick is far more useful to them than waiting on a 2031 selection, when the Jokic championship window would no longer be open in the same way.
On the basketball side, Jerome brings some real value. He finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting with the Cavaliers just one year ago, and even in an injury-shortened season with Memphis, he started all 15 of his games and put up 19.7 points per game while shooting 42.0% from three in 22.6 minutes per night. He’s also a career 38.6% shooter from deep, which makes him a natural fit for Denver.
There’s even a clean fit for the lineup. The Nuggets have 17-year veteran DeMar DeRozan available to move back into the starting group, where he could thrive in their offense.
For Denver, the appeal is straightforward: solve the cap problem, keep the roster functional, and preserve flexibility without walking away from contention.
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One name now circulating is Buddy Hield, whose path to Charlotte after a deal involving Atlanta has opened the door to a possible waiver pickup. If he becomes available, he would instantly fit the profile Denver has been missing on the bench, giving the Nuggets a proven volume shooter who could help bend defenses and ease some of the pressure on Murray. [Read more 🡒]
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He also brings a small jersey wrinkle into the mix, settling on No. 00 for Denver, a number last worn by Markus Howard in 2022. On a roster where the margins matter, the fit is still the bigger question, especially after Whitmore came in with two familiar numbers already spoken for, leaving the Nuggets to see how quickly a high-ceiling player can carve out a role. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Face A Brutal Jokic Era Roster Squeeze Milwaukee Never Did
The Bucks summer reset, after moving on from Giannis Antetokounmpo, has invited the usual round of comparisons to Denvers future around Nikola Jokic. But the Nuggets are operating in a very different kind of squeeze, one shaped less by a clean break from a championship core than by the burdens that come with trying to keep one intact under the modern cap system.
For Denver, the issue is not simply paying to stay competitive. The stricter luxury-tax environment leaves far less room to patch holes or add midseason help, and the clubs history of smaller tax bills only sharpens the contrast with teams that have long treated spending as part of the price of contention. The result is a roster-building problem that could force difficult moves, even if the path forward is not as straightforward as the Bucks post-title pivot. [Read more 🡒]