Plenty seem to have given up on the idea of the 2023 NBA champions as title contenders. Getting knocked out in the second round of the playoffs started that ball rolling, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope leaving in free agency gave it a lot more speed.

But Denver had a plan entering this offseason, and keeping KCP would’ve put the team over the dreaded “second apron” and made it impossible to execute that plan. With the hint of extra flexibility granted by Caldwell-Pope’s departure, Denver was able to sign both Dario Šarić and Russell Westbrook, its two targets from the start of the offseason.

When you think of those two as replacements for the backup center platoon from last season and the Bruce Brown minutes from the year before, it’s easy to imagine the Nuggets bench looking as solid as it has during the Nikola Jokić era.

What this plan really comes down to, though, is the potential of Christian Braun. He, not Westbrook, is the KCP replacement. And for this plan to truly work, he has to take a leap. Fortunately for Nuggets fans, there’s some evidence he can.

Braun is only 23 years old. And last season, when he was on the floor with Jokić, he averaged 11.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists per 75 possessions, while shooting 39.5 percent from deep. Denver had a plus-14.3 net rating in those 914 minutes.

Caldwell-Pope, meanwhile, was at 11.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per 75 possessions, with a 38.9 three-point percentage, when he shared the floor with Jokić. The Nuggets’ net rating was plus-11.2 with that duo.

Of course, the caveat is that more of Caldwell-Pope’s minutes came against starters, but there’s at least reason to be optimistic about Braun’s upside as the fifth starter in a group that already features the best player in the world (Jokić), an ideal lob threat (Aaron Gordon), one of the best shooters in the league (Michael Porter Jr.) and an all-time great playoff performer (Jamal Murray).