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The Los Angeles Lakers are in the market for a gifted young wing who would be a seamless fit alongside Luka Doncic following several significant roster adjustments (bringing in Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton, Quentin Grimes, and Walker Kessler and losing several key contributors).
Lakers insider Jovan Buha has a hunch that a Denver Nuggets NBA champion forward could be exactly what Los Angeles is looking for as they continue to field a championship-contending roster.
“You have Christian Braun, who we talked about before on the show,” Buha said Monday. “Would only consider taking him on if the Nuggets were interested in attaching some real draft capital to that. So is that a first? Is that a couple of seconds?”
“I know they have a pretty limited cupboard of draft assets. But something in that range, because he’s got $103 million left on the deal. So that’s a monster contact. “Denver still has to shed some money with the whole Peyton Watson situation. Even if they get a discount on Peyton Watson, which is how this is potentially shaking out, they still are in a tough spot.”
“They have Spencer Jones, they love Bruce Brown, and it would be great for them to shed some money, and I think Christian Braun is the one they would like to get off the most. And so, that’s the one that I think they’d love to move him, it's just going to cost an arm and a leg, so we’ll see if they end up paying that price.”
Considering Buha named Dalton Knecht as one of the Lakers’ prime trade candidates this summer and NBA reporter Evan Sider recently reported that Los Angeles is hoping to find a suitor for the former second-round pick this summer, it would only be right for the Lakers to include him in a potential deal for Braun.
Braun, who only missed nine games during his first three seasons with the Nuggets, wasn’t 100% healthy with Denver in Year 4. The Kansas product only appeared in 44 contests due to calf and ankle injuries. As a result, Braun’s production took a noticeable dip following a 2024-25 campaign in which he averaged a career-best 15.4 points on 58.0% field goal shooting and 39.7% three-point shooting.
The 6-foot-6 guard contributed 12.0 points per game with the Nuggets in 2025-26, connecting on 51.9% of his field goals and 30.1% of his three-point jumpers.
The encouraging news is that Braun has already shown he can be a dynamic transition scorer, a high-level spot-up shooter, and an engaged on- and off-ball defender at his best, which could convince the Lakers to jump-start offseason trade talks with the Nuggets.
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