Some of his high points - completely smothering defense, immense size and length, and offensive flashes as a passer and creator - are so salivating for viewers that all of his lows - discombobulated jump shot mechanics, lack of coordination, less than stellar burst and a lacking basketball IQ at times - can be overlooked. The Watson experience has been one helluva ride. Almost every single rookie - blue-chip recruits or 21st pick in the draft - require time to acclimate. Give rookies a chance to grow into the game. Just to remind everyone, Jamal Murray missed his first 17 shots as a member of the Nuggets. That combination easily could lead to a shooting slump for a player like Braun. Braun is adjusting to the speed of the game, being asked to handle the ball and create far more than he should, and is adjusting to a three-point line that is further away than it was in college. With that being said, taking too much away from Summer League is not smart. Without it, his NBA projection looks much worse. Braun’s offensive ceiling is built around his three-point shooting. Over four games, Braun is shooting 3-24 from beyond the three-point line which is a horrid 12.5%. Still, there is one skill that has been painfully absent from the Nuggets Summer League run: his three-point shooting. He was a demon on defense, a smart off-ball scorer and a terror in transition. In that first game, against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Braun had 19 points on 8-17 shooting despite going 1-7 from beyond the three-point arc to go with six rebounds, three assists and a steal. How have each of them handled their first taste of NBA basketball? Christian Braunīraun has shown most of the skills that led to him being selected with the 21st pick by the Nuggets, but overall has struggled since his first Summer League game. On the Summer League roster, Denver has three draft picks from this year - Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Ismael Kamagate - as well as a two-way contract player Collin Gillespie all logging regular minutes. The whole roster has had ups-and-downs, including the candidates for the Nuggets final two-way contract, but for today we are going to take a closer look at the players on the Summer League roster who the Nuggets have already committed to in one way or another. Well, the Denver Nuggets are four games through Las Vegas Summer League and their 2-2 record perfectly illustrates what a mixed bag it has been.
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