Branden Carlson

Branden Carlson (born June 14, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Raptors 905 of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Utah Utes of the Pac-12 Conference.

Early life and high school career
Carlson grew up in South Jordan, Utah and attended Bingham High School. He committed to play college basketball at Utah over offers from UCLA, Stanford, BYU, UNLV, Utah State, UC Davis, Santa Clara, and Weber State.

College career
After graduating from high school, Carlson served a two-year Latter-Day Saint mission in Manchester, England. He enrolled at Utah before the start of the 2019–2020 season. 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. He averaged 9.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks as a sophomore. Carlson averaged 13.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks and was named second-team All-Pac-12 Conference as a junior. 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. 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. In his final year, he averaged 17.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game, and making the First-team All-Pac-12 for the second time. Carlson become the all-time blocks leader for Utah during a home loss to Arizona State, 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.

Toronto Raptors (2024-present)
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.