The Portland Trail Blazers have made a sneaky free agency move, signing Branden Carlson to a one-year, $2.5 million deal, ESPN's Shams Charania reports. Carlson is a seven-foot big man who spent the past two seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder organization.
At 27 years old, he doesn't have tantalizing potential by any means, but does fill a frontcourt need as a potential stretch five, connecting on 36 percent of his attempts beyond the arc last season. That's a skill set Portland has lacked since trading away Duop "Big Daddy" Reath to the Atlanta Hawks at the deadline in the Vit Krejci deal.
With the recent shocking Ja Morant blockbuster, adding a floor-spacing big man just became that much more imperative. Despite his frame, Carlson is more of an offensive-minded player than a defensive anchor. That's not necessarily a bad thing for this Blazers roster, considering they already have one of the best rim-protecting duos in the league between Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III.
Portland recently extended Time Lord to a three-year, $44 million deal, which we viewed as a calculated risk for a team that absolutely needed his services this past year.
Blazers continue to pay the price of their Yang Hansen gamble
Yang Hansen's shaky rookie season made retaining Williams that much more important, as Portland's controversial draft investment now likely has three more years to develop before being relied on in an increased role. However, the issue with that three-center approach is Portland also needs insurance for Williams, given his extensive injury history. He was relatively healthy last season, totaling 59 games played, though it remains to be seen if those injury concerns are fully behind him.
Ideally, any potential injury would mean Hansen has an opportunity to step up in an increased role. The fact that Portland had to bring a fourth center into the mix says a lot of about Hansen's timeline and their confidence level in him contributing next season.
The Blazers were viewed as a wild card team entering this offseason, and they certainly haven't disappointed. Between Morant and now Carlson, they are assembling a team full of point guards and centers. Hopefully, GM Joe Cronin uses the remainder of the summer to find a better roster balance before heading into the 2026-27 season.
But we do see the vision for adding Carlson to this frontcourt. His floor spacing and offensive skill set add another dimension to Portland, giving new head coach Micah Nori more lineup flexibility. He also provides insurance for both Hansen and Williams, for different reasons.
In general, investing in a player Thunder GM Sam Presti has previously invested in is rarely a bad idea. Presti clearly saw something in Carlson, and now the Blazers are hoping that evaluation translates to Portland.
Still, this move shows that the Blazers continue to pay a price for their Hansen gamble last summer. They're a team that wants to make a deep playoff run but drafted a multi-year project, and now they have to inconveniently fill in the gaps of this two-timeline approach.
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