Christian Braun’s Denver Nuggets trip Ochai Agbaji’s Cleveland Cavs in summer league
Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun, a pair of first-round NBA Draft picks off of Kansas’ 2022 NCAA men’s basketball championship team, played against each other for the first time as professionals Sunday at the NBA 2K23 summer league in Las Vegas.
The first round of pro bragging rights went to Braun and the Denver Nuggets, who downed Agbaji’s Cleveland Cavaliers 84-76 at Cox Pavilion on the campus of UNLV
Braun, a 6-foot-7, 21-year-old guard taken No. 21 overall by the Nuggets in the June 23 draft, scored 10 points on ice-cold 4-of-18 shooting. He was 0-for-8 from three-point range and 2-of-7 from the line.
Braun had five assists to zero turnovers with no rebounds and three steals in 30 minutes.
Agbaji, a 6-foot-5, 22-year-old guard taken No. 14 by the Cavs in the draft, scored eight points on 3-of-11 shooting. Agbaji was 2-of-6 from three with six rebounds three assists, two turnovers and a steal in 33 minutes.
The two did guard each other at times on Sunday. On one play early, Agbaji accepted a pass on the wing, drove past Braun and hit a scoop shot off the glass to give Cleveland an 18-17 lead. He was fouled by Braun on the drive, missing the free-throw attempt.
Asked after the summer league game by KU’s official men’s basketball Twitter account reporter if he had bragging rights on Agbaji for the time being, Braun said with a smile: “I don’t think so. If you watched me play today on offense I don’t think I have any bragging rights, but I did get a win. ‘Och’ might have played just as bad as me. It was two pretty bad games from us.”
However ... “it’s a great experience. It’s a first couple steps,” Braun said. “He played great the other day and I played great the other day. We’re going to keep taking steps. It’s good to compete against him a little bit.”
On Friday in his summer league debut, Agbaji hit four three-pointers and scored 16 points in Cleveland’s 99-90 victory over San Antonio. Agbaji hit 5 of 11 shots (4 of 9 threes) in that victory.
Also on Friday, Braun scored 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting (1-of-7 from three) in Denver’s 85-78 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Former KU forward David McCormack had 10 points in that game.
Braun, who was known for speaking his mind on the court to opposing players and sometimes fans during his three seasons at KU, was asked by KU hoops Twitter account if the two buddies talked trash Sunday at summer league.
“No. If you know ‘Och’ he’s not going to do that,” Braun said. “You can try but he won’t say anything. There was no trash talking. I’m proud of him He’s playing great. He’s in a really good spot (with the Cavs). You can tell he’s happy. I’m excited for him, excited for his opportunities. It’s good to see him.”
Dotson’s Wizards beat Suns
Former KU point guard Devon Dotson scored four points on 1-of-7 shooting while playing 18 minutes in the Washington Wizards’ 97-72 win over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday in Vegas.
Dotson, who played sparingly for the Chicago Bulls the past two seasons after failing to get selected in the 2020 NBA Draft, was 0-for-2 from three-point range and 2-of-2 from the line.
He dished six assists against one turnover and grabbed five rebounds in 18 minutes.
The 22-year-old Dotson had scored 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting (1-of-4 from three-point range, 2-of-7 from line) in the Wizards’ 105-99 loss to Detroit on Saturday.
This story was originally published July 10, 2022 at 8:39 PM.
