The Nuggets' screw-up is a warning the Pistons can't ignore with Jalen Duren

After his breakout third season, the Denver Nuggets signed Christian Braun to a massive 5 year/$125 million extension that may have doomed their long-term chances of another title in the Nikola Jokic era. 

The Nuggets have a top-heavy payroll and owners with deep pockets and short arms who don’t want to be in the luxury tax every year, which means every dollar matters, and you can’t give a big deal to the wrong guy without it costing you. 

The jury is out on whether Braun was the wrong guy, but it’s not looking good, as his numbers dropped off the map last season and the extension hasn’t even kicked in yet, so he’s under contract through 2030-31 on a deal no one else will touch after he missed a ton of games and shot 30 percent from long range.

The decision has already cost the Nuggets, who had to trade Peyton Watson for a first-round pick just to avoid the second apron. Ask Jokic if he cares about a pick six years from now, when he'll be slamming beers and hanging with his horses.

Watson is unproven, but he now looks like the far better long-term prospect compared to Braun, and he’ll be making less money to play for another team. 

Watson is the exact type of two-way wing the Nuggets need, but they just had to give him away for a distant pick because of the mistake they made with Christian Braun. 

This is the exact mistake the Pistons have to avoid with Jalen Duren. 

The Pistons can’t reward the wrong player in the second apron era 

The Nuggets just suffered a second-apron casualty, as they didn’t want to lose Watson, but were facing the dreaded second tax apron, which has teeth if you breach it consistently. 

This will have the two-fold effect of teams increasingly losing players like the Nuggets just did, as well as teams not wanting to give big extensions in the first place. 

Enter Jalen Duren. 

The Pistons are already looking at this trend and the dangers of giving the wrong guy a big contract. Duren is going to get his money, likely far more than Braun got, but the Pistons can’t start getting into the $40 million range, or they may end up with the same regrets. 

The good news is that unlike the Nuggets, the Pistons have a clean cap sheet with only one max deal on it. The Nuggets have two players making over $50 million each next season, which is something the Pistons won’t face even after they eventually sign Duren. 

The Pistons want to avoid losing a player in the future because of the contract they sign with Duren now, which is why they are taking such a hard line in these negotiations. Look at the Nuggets, every dollar matters in this tax era. 

The Pistons are watching this Watson scenario play out at the same time as their own drama with Duren, and what just happened to the Nuggets should be a warning, as it could be waiting in Detroit’s future if they make the wrong move. 

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