Branden Carlson's 2025 Summer League debut had this Hall of Famer questioning why he wasn't drafted
The 7-foot center scored 23 points while adding seven rebounds and two blocks to just one turnover for Oklahoma City in the Thunder's 92-75 win over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Carlson, who won an NBA championship as a rookie with the Thunder as a two-way player, shot 9 of 13 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3-point range in 19 minutes of action.
His performance had a Hall of Famer singing his praises.
Former Detroit Pistons guard Isiah Thomas, working as an analyst during the ESPN broadcast, questioned why Carlson wasn't a draft pick coming out of Utah.
'I just want to know what the evaluators, when they were evaluating him, were saying, 'Well, he can't do this,'' Thomas said of Carlson, according to Sports Illustrated's Cole Forsman. 'Because I haven't seen anything he can't do.'
'There are a lot of NBA evaluators and scouts who don't know what the (expletive) they're looking at, and that's the fact. We know there's no way that a kid like this shouldn't have been drafted.'
Carlson prepped at Bingham High in South Jordan, Utah, and spent his entire collegiate career at the University of Utah. He left Salt Lake City as the program's career blocks leader (241) and No. 5 all-time in scoring (1,892).
He went undrafted last offseason and initially signed a two-way contract with Toronto. After the Raptors waived him in October, the Thunder signed Carlson to a two-way deal in November.
Carlson ended up starring for the Oklahoma City Blue in the G League, while also playing in 32 games for the Thunder, who went on to win the NBA title. He averaged 3.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.4 assists while shooting 44.3% from the field during his time with the Thunder as a rookie.
Last week, Carlson signed a two-way contract again with Oklahoma City.
'The talent evaluators should be ashamed of themselves for not seeing Carlson,' Thomas said in the fourth quarter, per Forsman.
Later, after Carlson hit a 25-footer, Thomas added, 'I don't even know what to say no more. I just want to know (from) the 30 teams that were looking at him — what didn't they like?'
Carlson and the Thunder play again Wednesday, facing the New Orleans Pelicans at 7:30 p.m. MDT. The game will be televised on NBA TV.
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