| Branden Carlson | |
| Position: | Center |
| Height Ft: | 7 |
| Height In: | 0 |
| Weight Lb: | 220 |
| League: | NBA |
| Team: | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Number: | 15 |
| Birth Date: | 14 June 1999 |
| Birth Place: | South Jordan, Utah, U.S. |
| High School: | Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) |
| College: | Utah (2019–2024) |
| Draft Year: | 2024 |
| Career Start: | 2024 |
| Years1: | 2024 |
| Team1: | Raptors 905 |
| Years2: | –present |
| Team2: | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Years3: | 2024 |
| Team3: | →Oklahoma City Blue |
| Highlights: |
|
Branden Carlson (born June 14, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Utah Utes of the Pac-12 Conference.
Carlson grew up in South Jordan, Utah and attended Bingham High School.[1] He committed to play college basketball at Utah over offers from UCLA, Stanford, BYU, UNLV, Utah State, UC Davis, Santa Clara, and Weber State.[2]
After graduating from high school, Carlson served a two-year Latter-Day Saint mission in Manchester, England.[3] He enrolled at Utah before the start of the 2019–2020 season.[4] Carlson played in 30 games with 29 starts during his freshman season and averaged 7.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game.[5] He averaged 9.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks as a sophomore.[6] Carlson averaged 13.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks and was named second-team All-Pac-12 Conference as a junior.[7] He averaged 16.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game as a senior and was named first-team All-Pac-12.[8] Carlson considered entering the 2023 NBA draft, but ultimately decided to utilize the extra year of eligibility granted to college athletes who played in the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and return to Utah for a fifth season.[9] In his final year, he averaged 17.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game,[10] and made the First-team All-Pac-12 for the second time. Carlson became the all-time blocks leader for Utah during a home loss to Arizona State,[11] eventually finishing the season with 241 blocks. In that year's NIT, Carlson averaged 16.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks over four tournament games, with Utah eventually falling in the semifinals to Indiana State.[12]
After going undrafted in the 2024 NBA draft, Carlson signed a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors on July 4, 2024, joining former Ute Jakob Pöltl.[13] However, he was waived on October 19, 2024.[14] On October 28, he joined Raptors 905.[15]
On November 16, 2024, after the injuries of Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, and Jaylin Williams, Carlson signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder.[16] [17]
|-| style="text-align:left;"|2019–20| style="text-align:left;"|Utah| 30 || 29 || 20.9 || .549 || .231 || .622 || 3.9 || .8 || .3 || 1.4|| 7.0|-| style="text-align:left;"|2020–21| style="text-align:left;"|Utah| 25 || 21 || 23.4 || .551 || .500 || .609 || 4.6 || .7 || .2 || 1.7 || 9.4|-| style="text-align:left;"|2021–22| style="text-align:left;"|Utah| 24 || 23 || 26.0 || .510 || .309 || .818 || 6.0 ||1.1 || .3 || 1.6 || 13.6|-| style="text-align:left;"|2022–23| style="text-align:left;"|Utah| 31 || 31 || 29.1 || .495 || .331 || .774 || 7.5 || 1.5 || .3 || 2.0 || 16.3|-| style="text-align:left;"|2023–24| style="text-align:left;"|Utah| 36 || 36 || 29.6 || .501 || .379 || .714 || 6.6 || 1.6 || .4 || 1.5 || 17.0|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career| 146 || 140 || 26.1 || .513 || .354 || .728 || 5.8 || 1.2 || .3 || 1.7 || 12.9