Denver Nuggets forward Christian Braun suffered a sprained left ankle in Wednesday night’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers and will be reevaluated in six weeks, ESPN’s Shams Charania announced on Friday.
Christian Braun injured guarding James Harden
Braun was injured in the first quarter when Clippers guard James Harden stepped on his right foot, causing him to take an awkward step back with his left foot.
Denver is scheduled to play 17 games over the next six weeks. Under this schedule, Braun could return as early as Saturday, Dec. 27, for a road game against the Orlando Magic.
Injury update: Christian Braun suffered a sprained left ankle Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers. He will be re-evaluated in six weeks. pic.twitter.com/zLyHI09Syr
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) November 14, 2025
This is Christian Braun’s injury.
The Nuggets said he will miss six weeks: at least 19 games. pic.twitter.com/8N9rJymLh1
— Law Murray ⛲️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) November 14, 2025
In 11 games this season (all starts), Braun averaged 29.5 minutes per game, scoring 11.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists. He shot 49.5% from the field and a career-worst 21.4% from three-point range.
In Denver’s 130-124 home win over the Sacramento Kings on November 3, he made 7 of 10 shots (70%) and 6 of 9 free throws (66.7%), scoring a season-high 21 points.
Braun became a full-time starter for the Nuggets last season
The 24-year-old Braun became the Nuggets’ full-time starter last season, averaging 33.9 minutes in 79 games (77 starts), scoring a career-high 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals.
His true shooting percentage (66.5%) and usage rate (15.8%) are also career bests.
Braun moved into the starting lineup after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left in free agency. In his first two years, he played a key role as a backup for the team.
The Kansas product averaged 7.3 points per game during his sophomore season, making him one of two players along with Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels to improve his scoring average by more than eight points per game.
Braun is also one of only five players averaging at least 15 points and five rebounds per game while shooting 58 percent from the field, and the only non-center on that list, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Braun extends rookie contract
Last month, Braun agreed to a five-year, $125 million rookie contract extension with the Nuggets. According to Spotrac, his new contract will begin in the 2026-27 season and there are no team or player options in the agreement.
With this extension, the Nuggets commit to keeping four starters through at least the 2027-28 season, joining superstars Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray.
However, Jokic has a $62.84 million player option for the 2027-28 season. It’s part of a five-year, $276.12 million contract extension he signed with the team in July 2022.
The Nuggets will travel to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
