The Oklahoma City Thunder have been one of the top teams in the NBA so far this season, but they’ve suffered major injuries to both Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. The injury bug has depleted the Thunder’s center depth, forcing them to make a roster move this week.
The Thunder added Branden Carlson to their roster on Saturday, as per Michael Scotto of Hoopshype.com, giving them extra injury insurance to their center rotation. In a related move, the Thunder waived Malevy Leons to open up a roster spot. Carlson’s deal is a one-year standard contract.
At the beginning of the season, Holmgren was penciled in as the Thunder starting center with Hartenstein as the backup, giving the team one of the best center rotations in the league.
But Hartenstein suffered a hand injury right before the start of the season and has yet to make his Thunder debut. Holmgren suffered a rare hip injury during the Thunder’s game against the Golden State Warriors and is expected to be out at least eight to ten weeks.
In addition to Holmgren and Hartenstein’s injuries, Jaylin Williams, who would have provided insurance at center, is also sidelined. Williams suffered a hamstring injury during training camp and has also not played at all this season.
Despite the injuries, the Thunder have continued their strong start to the season. They currently sit atop the Western Conference standings at 11-2.
Branden Carlson provides Thunder with center depth
With the injuries to Holmgren, Hartenstein and Williams, the Thunder had nobody over 6 feet 9 inches on the active roster. Carlson gives them a legit 7-footer with size in the frontcourt. It’s unclear though if Carlson is just added insurance or will actually see rotation minutes in the meantime.
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Carlson went undrafted out of Utah in the 2024 NBA Draft, and was scooped up by the Toronto Raptors on a two-way contract. The Raptors ended up cutting Carlson right before the start of the season and he had been playing with their G League affiliate, the Raptors 905.
In three games with the Raptors 905, the former Utah standout had been averaging 13.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 blocked shots with splits of 50 percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent shooting from the three-point line.
He left Utah as the program’s all-time leader in blocked shots. In addition to his size in the frontcourt, he can space the floor as a stretch-five with his consistent three-point shooting.
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