Branden Carlson Continues to Prove His Worth for OKC Thunder

Oklahoma City has been no stranger to injury issues despite its hot start, and it’s opened the door for one player to show just how impactful he could be.

Over the first few weeks of the season, the Thunder have rarely seen a short injury report and have yet to have their entire rotation available for a game. Of course, those issues haven’t done much to slow down the Thunder on their road to 26-3 after Monday night’s 119-103 win against the Memphis Grizzlies.

While the final score looks similar to plenty of Oklahoma City’s other wins this season, it had to take a much different path than usual to get there. With eight guys out, the Thunder had only seven players on standard contracts available, along with their three two-way guys.

While Brooks Barnhizer got some spot minutes and Chris Youngblood played almost only garbage time minutes, Branden Carlson was a key factor in the Thunder’s win. With Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams out, Carlson was thrust into the starting lineup and excelled as the Thunder’s lone big man.

Matching up against Jock Landale, Carlson was able to find some success throughout the night. In nearly 25 minutes of action, Carlson put up 11 points and grabbed three rebounds while shooting 3-of-6 from deep, including knocking down a corner three late in the fourth that finished off a ridiculous Shai Gilgeous-Alexander off-the-glass highlight.

Considering the Thunder’s sometimes questionable health inside, having a generally reliable player like Carlson who can come in and fit well within Mark Daigneault’s system is vital. Although he can sometimes be a bit slow on defensive rotations around the perimeter, Oklahoma City is in a great spot if that’s the only pressing issue for its fourth-string center.

With the injury situation in mind, the Thunder would be wise to convert Carlson to a standard contract later this season. With Ousmane Dieng’s spot likely the one to be taken on the 15-man playoff roster, Carlson continues to play his way into a new deal.

This season, Carlson has averaged 5.3 points in 11.1 minutes across 19 contests and has clearly been the Thunder’s best two-way player. Considering the Thunder have a tradition of converting their two-way talent to the standard, as seen most recently with Ajay Mitchell last season, Carlson’s promotion seems like a formality at this point.

Assuming he can continue to give the Thunder more valuable minutes when his number gets called, he should have no problem getting onto a new deal in the near future.