Christian Braun: 2022 NBA Draft Scouting Report
One of our favorite under-the-radar guys, Braun deserves first-round love due to his combinations of athleticism, shot-making and stout defense
For years, we’ve discussed the formula and overlap for finding the best role players in the NBA. Learning how to correctly identify guys who come into the league and flank star players to a high degree is the aim of many general managers. Do we prioritize guys who played a smaller role in college that directly translates to the NBA in a very clear way? Do we look for an overall skill or production level prior to the pros, and then try to teach them the specifics of how to succeed in a smaller role?
What we’ve settled on for now as an appropriate differentiation between the great and the average projection for role players: the great ones are either elite in one clear category that translates to winning or have zero holes in their game. The phrase “outlier skills” or “calling card” has to be clear for a role guy and should answer the question “in a playoff series, Player X will earn the floor by doing _____”. PJ Tucker plays for the Miami Heat by being a gritty defender; Duncan Robinson by draining movement 3-pointers. Role guys have their niche.
Oftentimes, the separator between guys is mental makeup: competitiveness, the willingness to sacrifice their touches for the benefit of the team, the professionalism needed to make NBA basketball their life. That can be challenging to evaluate from the outside, without direct access to prospects and the manpower to dig into their journey.
Christian Braun stands out as the second type of role player we discussed earlier — the one who is good at everything. Braun checks so many boxes without being elite in one category. He’s a career 38% 3-point shooter with a beautiful stroke and zero wasted movement. He can attack closeouts and finish at the rim. He’s an adequate passer and secondary creator, as he showed during the NBA Draft Combine scrimmages. He’s a feisty on-ball defender, a tremendous rebounder for his size, and a natural athlete. His 40-inch vertical was one of the best at the Combine, and he plays very bursty in the open floor and smooth in the half-court.
The outlier skill for Braun is his competitiveness. He’s right on the borderline of playing dickish, always talking to his opponents, chirping to the crowd and letting out primal screams after his rim-shaking dunks. His competitiveness comes through in every setting, and it has since he was in high school playing on the AAU circuit. He’s one of those guys who simply won’t be denied, is used to being overlooked and just knows how to make up for it.
At times, his game is quiet: spotting up and making triples, moving the rock with extra passes, using smooth jump cuts for layups. But when those plays come where his imprint is felt, it’s felt loudly. Braun is the type of guy you love to have when he’s your teammate but hate when he’s on the other side. To us, it’s no accident Kansas won the National Championship with guys like him and Ochai Agbaji on the roster.
Finding the right role for Braun comes from simply plugging him into a team where he won’t be asked to do too much. He’s a good on-ball defender but is likely more switchable across 2s and 3s than all the way 1 thru 4. He’s a good spot-up threat but not an elite movement shooter. He can handle, facilitate and score a little bit, but his best role is just picking his spots and feeding off others.
In the right context, that type of player is worth a first-round selection. Many teams drafting in the 18-30 range are playoff contenders, drafting more for the ideal role players around the margins than the superstar swings with high volatility. But understanding Braun the competitor means knowing he needs to go to a franchise that is fiery, rewards that passion and has the veteran leadership to welcome his fire instead of tame it.