The Los Angeles Lakers are in desperate need of a two-way wing to help assist Luka Doncic on both ends of the floor.
Acquiring a defensive-minded contributor who’s limited offensively or an offensive-minded asset who’s easy to pick on defensively won’t get the job done for Los Angeles this season.
In Lake Show Life’s Maxwell Ogden opinion, trading for a 6-foot-4 NBA champion Denver Nuggets 6-foot-6 guard could do wonders for the Lakers moving forward.
“Peyton Watson's emergence opens door for Lakers to trade for Christian Braun,” Ogden wrote Friday. "Braun signed a five-year, $125 million extension with the Nuggets that's set to take hold in 2026-27."
“He'll make an average of $25 million per season, which most have argued is a fair figure considering his emergence as one of the better two-way wings in the NBA.”
“For a Lakers team in dire need of two-way players along the wings, that makes Braun the perfect trade target—assuming they can meet Denver's thus far unknown demands.”
While injuries have negatively impacted Braun’s production on the hardwood this season (he’s averaging 9.5 points per game on 45.9% field goal shooting and 21.2% three-point shooting in 14 contests), he’s been a highly impactful role player in Denver to start his career.
As a springy and active wing who’s a reliable perimeter shooting threat and agile on-ball defender, Braun doesn’t experience many issues making his presence felt nightly.
Following a breakout 2024-25 campaign with the Nuggets, Braun earned a $125 million contract extension with the organization and was expected to carry that momentum into the 2025-26 season.
With Braun in and out of Denver’s lineup this year, Watson has maximized the opportunity in front of him and played the best basketball of his young NBA career.
The UCLA product is averaging 14.5 points per game on 50.8% field goal shooting and 42.1% long-range shooting in 43 games with the Nuggets in Year 4. As Ogden noted, Watson’s brilliant play in Braun’s absence could open the door for the Lakers to steal Braun from Denver before the trade deadline.
Considering the Kansas product would fulfill both of the franchise’s needs, it wouldn’t be foolish for Los Angeles to consider adding him to the fold before time runs out.
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