Hi,
I don't think a braking resistor would have saved you. The VFD did not s****t itself because it was decelerating, it was operating into a stalled spindle which causes a huge
spike in current demand. It would appear from your description that the VFD protection did not act quickly enough to save itself. Cheap VFD's tend to do that.
The correct size of a braking resistor is published by the manufacturer...no need to guess.
Craig