Isiah Thomas can’t believe that NBA scouts and executives whiffed on Branden Carlson in the draft.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Summer League team beat the Orlando Magic’s Summer League team 92-75 in Las Vegas, Nev., on Tuesday. Carlson, who was an undrafted free agent, scored 23 points with 7 rebounds in the game. He shot 9/13 and went 4/6 on threes.
Carlson was such a standout in the game that Thomas, who was on the call for NBA TV, couldn’t believe Carlson went undrafted last year.
“The talent evaluators should be ashamed of themselves for not seeing Carlson,” Thomas said while ranting on the subject.
Carlson played college ball at Utah and initially signed a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors last year. He got waived by them in October but signed with the Thunder on a two-way contract in November. He was up and down with OKC multiple times and played in 32 games with the reigning natinoal champions.
Carlson’s only free throw attempt came as he completed a 4-point play.
Branden Carlson with the 4-POINT PLAY 🎯
— NBA (@NBA) July 15, 2025
He leads the Thunder in scoring with 16 points!
📺 OKC-ORL on NBA TV pic.twitter.com/4FFZDBoNGt
That’s not bad for a 7-foot tall player.
