Christian Braun has heard the critics of the Nuggets’ offseason, along with the doubters who believe he’s overpaid after ankle issues limited him to 44 games in his fourth NBA season. However, he tells Sean Keeler of The Denver Post that those negative comments are providing inspiration as he prepares for training camp.
“It’s honestly good for you, every once in a while, to get punched in the mouth,” Braun said. “… So it’s good for me to personally get written off. It’s probably good for the team to get written off. But like I said, I wouldn’t write a (Nuggets) team off that won that many games and has been there, has won a championship, has done all those things. So we’re excited. And obviously, we don’t really care what other people have to say.”
Denver’s efforts to keep up with San Antonio and Oklahoma City at the top of the West were hurt by the loss of Peyton Watson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas from last year’s roster. The Nuggets were able to keep Spencer Jones after matching an offer from the Thunder, and they added some veteran scoring help by reaching an agreement with DeMar DeRozan in free agency.
Braun said he’s “really excited to play with another All-Star” in DeRozan and expressed confidence in the front office’s ability to find talent. He added that he’s ready to make people forget about last season now that his ankle is healed.
“Yeah, I think we’re going to put it in the past, and it’s not something I want to talk about anymore,” Braun said. “I’ve worked extremely hard to get past it and will continue to work on it, and (it’s) something that will continue to develop, continue to get better. So I’m not too worried about what other people have to say about it. I know who I am and the player I am. I know I’ll bounce back and be right where I need to be next year.”
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Nuggets assistant coach Ognjen Stojakovic addressed the loss of Watson in an interview with Bruno Feliks of Basketball Network. “Of course, losing someone like that, it’s not easy,” Stojakovic said. “So, now we can like, now we can, I don’t know, we can be sad about that or we can be like, okay, it is what it is and we’re going to do next step and do whatever is necessary to rebuild us and to find the right way and the right direction to win championship.”
- There may be mutual interest in Kevin Love returning to the Timberwolveswhere he began his NBA career. Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic said recently on the Talk North podcast (YouTube link hat tip to BasketNews) that Love is “open to coming back to Minnesota” and the team may have interest in bringing him back. Love is a free agent after playing for Utah last season.
- In a full story Krawczynski examines the new-look Timberwolves and the challenges that coach Chris Finch will face after a summer filled with major roster moves.
- In the wake of Adam Silver’s severe penalties against the Clippers for salary cap circumvention, Bill Oram of The Oregonian (subscriber link) urges the commissioner to get involved in Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon’s negotiations on arena upgrades. Oram points out that three weeks have passed since Portland City Council approved a term sheet and states that city officials were hoping to see progress on a deal by Labor Day. Oram alleges that Dundon’s lack of participation since then makes an agreement less likely to be reached by the December deadline and retains his freedom to eventually explore moving the team.