Nuggets’ Christian Braun Out At Least 6 Weeks With Left Ankle Sprain

Denver Nuggets forward Christian Braun will be reevaluated in six weeks after he suffered a left ankle sprain in Wednesday night’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers, ESPN’s Shams Charania announced Friday.

Christian Braun Sustained Injury While Guarding James Harden

Braun was injured in the first quarter after Clippers guard James Harden stepped on his right foot, causing him to take an awkward step backward with his left foot.

Denver is scheduled to play 17 games over the next six weeks. This timetable puts Braun in line to return as early as Saturday, Dec. 27, for a road game against the Orlando Magic.

Injury Update: Christian Braun suffered a left ankle sprain on 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

Here is the Christian Braun injury.

Nuggets say he’s out six weeks: that’s at least 19 games. pic.twitter.com/8N9rJymLh1

— Law Murray ⛲️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) November 14, 2025

Through 11 games (all starts) this season, Braun has averaged 11.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 29.5 minutes per outing while shooting 49.5% from the field and a career-worst 21.4% from deep.

In Denver’s 130-124 home win over the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 3, he recorded a season-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting (70%) shooting from the floor and 6-of-9 (66.7%) from the free throw line.

Braun Became Full-Time Starter With Nuggets Last Season

Braun, 24, became a full-time starter with the Nuggets last season, averaging career highs of 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals, and 33.9 minutes in 79 games (77 starts).

His true shooting percentage (66.5%) and usage percentage (15.8%) were career bests as well.

Braun was moved into the starting lineup following the departure of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency. He played a key role as a member of the team’s bench unit during his first two years.

The Kansas product had averaged 7.3 points during his sophomore season, making him one of two players to increase his scoring average by more than eight points alongside Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels.

Per ESPN Stats & Information, Braun was also one of just five players to average at least 15 points and five rebounds while shooting 58% from the field and the only non-center on that list.

Braun Signed Rookie Contract Extension

Last month, Braun agreed to a five-year, $125 million rookie contract extension with the Nuggets. His new deal begins in the 2026-27 season, and there are no team or player options in the agreement, per Spotrac.

With this extension, the Nuggets committed to four of their starters through at least the 2027-28 season, joining superstar Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, and Jamal Murray.

Jokic, however, has a $62.84 million player option for the 2027-28 campaign. This is part of the five-year, $276.12 million extension he signed with the team in July 2022.

The Nuggets visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.