With the recent news that big man Thomas Sorber will be sidelined for the entirety of his rookie campaign in 2025-26 as a result of a torn ACL, many have already expressed a desire to see the OKC Thunder pursue Branden Carlson as a standard contract replacement option.
Considering his established track record of producing within coach Mark Daigneault's scheme, coupled with his monstrous production during this year's NBA Summer League, an argument could easily be made that converting him from a two-way deal to a full-time member of the varsity team in response to the Sorber injury would be a no-brainer move to make.
Unfortunately, as things currently stand, Oklahoma City already has the league maximum 15 players set to roster spots heading into the upcoming campaign, 14 of whom either already play a key role in the team's on-court successes or have the potential to become such a contributor down the line.
The odd man out from this conversation is 2022 lottery pick Ousmane Dieng. Sadly, his presence on the roster is the biggest reason why, as of this moment, a replacement signing has not yet been made.
Ousmane Dieng main reason Thunder cannot add Sorber replacement
In response to the Sorber injury news, it should be expected that the Thunder will wind up applying for a Disabled Player Exception (DPE), a tool granted to teams who have a player that's been ruled out for a full season.
If approved by the league, the exception would give OKC the opportunity to add an outsourced player with a deal equating to 50.0 percent of the salary of the player being replaced or the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Salary Exception.
Considering Sorber's rookie-scale deal would have paid him $4.65 million this coming year, this means the Thunder would have roughly $2.3 million at their disposal, more than enough to entice a guy like Carlson, who, under his current pact with the club, will be making somewhere in the $600K range.
The unfortunate reality of this current situation is the fact that while a DPE creates salary space to sign a player, it does not open up a roster spot.
This means that even if the Thunder wished to bring on Carlson or anyone else to help bolster their frontcourt for their upcoming title-defense season, they'd need to find a way to shed a player from their reserves.
Clearly, the most coveted departure to see would be Dieng, who, since being selected 11 overall three Junes ago, has failed to live up to the lofty expectations that come with being such a high-end pick and has visibly regressed in all notable metrics with every passing year.
Even with his impressive length (6-foot-9 with a 7-foot wingspan), sound athleticism, and still being at the youthful age of 22, his production has been so poor since entering the league that there appears to be little to no trade market for his services.
This means that unless Sam Presti and company opt to release the forward (extremely unlikely and, frankly, illogical), they'll be stuck with him in tow until either another franchise is willing to take him on in a salary dump trade or, an even more realistic scenario, his contract expires next offseason.
In other words, though the idea of signing Carlson to a one-year, standard deal in response to the rookie big's injury may be highly strategic, Dieng's presence on the roster and nonexistent trade value make such a move improbable.