while he was insisting he was the team\u2019s leader<\/a> even when he was nowhere near a shutdown defender.<\/p>\nOther than that.<\/p>\n
The only path forward is to see if Braun can regain his shine with a productive offseason and improved health.<\/p>\n
The Nuggets would be selling at an all-time low.\u00a0 And where would he go? Who would take him? Shedding the contract would involve connecting Braun to a deal involving Jamal Murray or Aaron Gordon. Same goes for Zeke Nnaji, obviously.<\/p>\n
The easiest play is the cleanest. Trade Johnson, who has an expiring contract. He represents a functional piece for a contender and could bring back desperately needed draft capital. Then attempt to move Gordon to re-sign Peyton Watson.<\/p>\n
The Nuggets will not be better next season, but they will be better positioned to regroup in 2029 for one last spending spree in the final years of Nikola Jokic\u2019s contract.<\/p>\n
Hard Labor: MLB owners proposed a salary cap in collective bargaining talks, showing the difficult road ahead. The owners want to fundamentally change the sport by tying a cap ($245.3 million) and a floor ($171.2 million) to competitive balance. In case you are wondering, the Rockies current payroll sits $54 million below the floor.\n<\/p>\n
The MLBPA does not want to restrict players\u2019 earning power and believes competitive balance can be tied to front-office competence, not spending limits, when looking at teams like Tampa Bay, Milwaukee, and Cleveland. Let\u2019s be real, most owners are motivated more by franchise valuation than winning. A cap creates cost certainty. End of story. The difference is that the players are unlikely to have the public on their side in these talks because of payroll disparity\u2013see the Dodgers. Baseball is on a heater, benefiting from pace of play changes and the ABS system, and does not have Cal Ripken\u2019s consecutive-games-played streak or the fake muscled-fueled home run chase of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to save the game if another season is lost. Deadlines spur action. Next February will determine how serious the sides are at avoiding a lengthy lockout that costs games.<\/p>\n
Final thought: Elimination games feature raw emotions. But Nathan MacKinnon not talking after Tuesday\u2019s loss was unprofessional and inexcusable for one of the NHL\u2019s best players.\n<\/p>\n
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver\u2019s teams.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every possession has become a negotiation. That is what the NBA\u2019s Western Conference Finals have become. The Thunder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":747438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3781],"tags":[877,4089,2276,7,1828,561,305,437,301,187,3943,130,762,165,92008,1203,8737,6,11,1106,253,302,179,1146,66,198,3788,4714],"class_list":["post-747437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-nuggets","tag-aaron-gordon","tag-avalanche","tag-ball-arena","tag-basketball","tag-cam-johnson","tag-christian-braun","tag-cleveland","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-denver","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-denvernuggets","tag-espn","tag-jamal-murray","tag-latest-headlines","tag-mark-mcgwire","tag-mlb","tag-nathan-mackinnon","tag-nba","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-nhl","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-nuggets","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-peyton-watson","tag-sports","tag-sports-columnists","tag-troy-renck","tag-zeke-nnaji"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116660412416914945","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Goaltender](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TDP-L-AvsVsKnightsGame2-20260522-TH-46.jpg\")
Goaltender Scott Wedgewood (41) of the Colorado Avalanche deflects a shot while right wing Mitch Marner (93) of the Vegas Golden Knights looks on during the second period of Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Friday, May 22, 2026, at Ball Arena in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n![\"Terrence](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TDP-L-NUGGETS-TWOLVESAO1_7694x.jpg\")
Terrence Shannon Jr. (1) of the Minnesota Timberwolves defends Christian Braun (0) of the Denver Nuggets during the third quarter of the Timberwolves\u2019 110-98 Game 6 first round NBA Playoffs series win at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Thursday, April 30, 2026. Minnesota eliminated the Nuggets 4-2. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)\n<\/p>\n