Ousmane Dieng injury creates golden opportunity for Thunder's budding G League star

The OKC Thunder frontcourt has suffered yet another health-related setback as it was reported Sunday that third-year forward Ousmane Dieng has fractured his right ring finger.

While no timetable for a return has yet to be mentioned, it has been revealed that the former lottery pick will be re-evaluated in three to four weeks. This means Oklahoma City will once again be severely limited with their big man depth for roughly the next month.

Though many may be assuming that Dieng's recent injury will result in coach Mark Daigneault relying heavily on Isaiah Hartenstein at center and reverting to their small-ball lineups consisting of Jalen Williams at the five, one experimental option the Thunder may want to consider is calling upon recently signed big Branden Carlson to play some spot minutes with the varsity team.

Thunder must see what they have in Branden Carlson after Dieng injury

Despite pleas from fans and pundits for the front office to pursue a noteworthy name to fill their 15 and final roster spot, in typical Sam Presti fashion they opted for signing an undrafted rookie.

On November 16, Oklahoma City signed Carlson, a first-year pro who comes into the league fresh off a First-Team All-Pac 12 season at the University of Utah where he dropped averages of 17.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.5 blocks on 50.1 percent shooting from the floor and 37.9 percent shooting from deep.

Though the initial reaction to such a move was rather underwhelming, with the recent injury to Ousmane Dieng one could make the case that excitement could now be warranted, as the forward's absence creates a golden opportunity for him to show why the Thunder were high on his services in the first place.

Measuring in at 7 feet, 220 pounds, Carlson boasts the kind of build that OKC has been severely lacking virtually all throughout the season.

With all three of Dieng, Jaylin Williams, and Chet Holmgren now sidelined for the foreseeable future, the only active player within coach Daigneault's arsenal above 6-foot-7 is Hartenstein.

Though he incredibly quite well Wednesday against the Blazers, considering he's just coming off an injury himself the Thunder may not want to overwork their splashy free-agency pick-up at this point in time.

With this in mind, giving Carlson a chance could make some serious sense, especially when considering, on top of sheer strategy purposes, his play in the G League alone warrants attention.

Through two games played with the Thunder's developmental affiliate, the OKC Blue, the 25-year-old has displayed legitimate inside-out potential, as he's averaging 20.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.5 blocks while shooting 48.5 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from deep on a whopping 8.5 attempts per game.

Players of his size and skill set are highly coveted commodities in the modern-day NBA and, being Oklahoma City has had ongoing frontcourt issues this entire season and has only seen their big man depth widdle away due to injuries, it only strengthens the argument for why the franchise must consider finding minutes for Branden Carlson.