The Sacramento Kings weren’t supposed to have a first round pick this year. Sacramento’s first rounder was set to go to Atlanta as the final compensation for the Kevin Huerter trade upon the Kings making the playoffs. But the Kings narrowly missed out on the playoffs and the pick didn’t convey.
Even then, it was a surprise that the Kings ended up keeping their pick after much speculation that the pick would be used in a trade for an impact player. But whether it was a weak draft class or bad offers, the Kings weren’t able to move on from the pick and instead opted to take a player many analysts considered one of the more NBA ready players in the draft in Devin Carter. At the time, the fit was questionable but soon after the Kings dealt Davion Mitchell, opening up a spot in the otherwise crowded backcourt.
Unfortunately, shortly after the draft, Carter was diagnosed with a shoulder injury that required surgery that will likely keep him off the court until January and possibly longer. Given his status as a rookie, it’s not inconceivable that he doesn’t play at all this season as the Kings look to play it safe with him. But should his recovery prove better than expected and he’s able to get on the court sooner rather than later, can Carter help this team win games this season?
Carter’s best attributes as a player are his relentlessness as a defender. Carter is listed at 6’2 but boasts an impressive 6’9 wingspan. He also has incredible explosiveness (42″ vertical) and speed (he set the NBA combine record in the three-quarter sprint at 2.87 seconds). As a junior at Providence, Carter led the team in scoring (19.7 points), rebounding (8.7), assists (3.6) and steals (1.8). A fierce competitor, Carter got better every single year in college, and particularly improved his three point shot as a junior, going 37.7% from distance in his final year, with many of those attempts coming well beyond the NBA three point line.
It’s unfortunate that Carter has to miss some very important developmental time. He will be entering the NBA with no summer league, training camp or preseason experience. By the time he is cleared for on-court action, the Kings will be in the thick of it, with games actually mattering. Can a rookie like him actually break through the rotation and play meaningful minutes? I would probably lean no, especially at first with the Kings still having a glut of guards. Sacramento brought in veteran Jordan McLaughlin to fill the backup Point Guard role this summer, and second year player Colby Jones might also be in line for some minutes. Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter are guaranteed to play a heavy role, as does Keon Ellis. But injuries do happen, and it’s at that point that I could see Carter getting some opportunities, particularly if he’s playing well in practice. We’ve seen Coach Mike Brown give guys opportunities if they can play defense, as we saw last year as he experimented with Chris Duarte and Keon Ellis (with Ellis eventually winning the starting spot after excelling in the role). It wouldn’t surprise me to see Brown give Carter a chance just to see what he can do, or even just to get important in-game reps.
The cards are stacked against Carter making an impact this season, but I’m still looking forward to seeing what he can do on the court when he does make his debut.
Heal up soon, young one.
I hope they do not need him to make an impact. His goal should be to recover from the injury and figure out how to make this team.
My read on Carter before the Kings ever selected him was that he was the most NBA-ready, two-way prospect in the entire draft. His injury is supremely disappointing since we won’t get to find out for some time.
Nonetheless, I remain very high on him and believe he will end up being an extremely impactful perimeter defender ala Alex Caruso or Jrue Holiday. Assuming the three point shot is reliable, he’s about as picture perfect of a fit next to Fox as one could imagine. More exciting, though, is that if he lives up to expectation, Keon or Huerter would likely be freed up as trade bait for a potentially very good 4-5 (Tari Eason is the dream imo).
A lineup like Fox/Carter/Murray/Eason/Sabonis could theoretically be one of the top 5 defenses in the league for the next 5 years. This is fantasy land, of course, but the point is that Carter can be very impactful for this team both on the court and in roster construction. Wish we could see him sooner but I believe he will be worth the wait.
I think Ellis and Carter would be very fun to watch on defense. Both are long and very talented.
They would wreak havoc together. Fox/Ellis/Carter/Murray/Sabonis would be nonstop strips and fastbreaks.
Honestly, that’s a big part of how Boston won a title. The ran a small lineup (minus an often injured unicorn at the 5) that relied on defense, transition, and 3pt shooting.
I like this. This is how a team should be around Sabonis.
The largest factor in Carter’s ability to make an impact season is largely dependent on exactly when he’s ready. If in January? I think he might. If March? Less opportunity, but I do think that based on the type of player he is, he’d be good to have around for the last ten games as teams jockey for position.
As you said, the team won’t rush him, so when Carter does become available, I’d guess he’ll be able to contribute. As to minutes, Carter can have all of Jones’ and if he shaves a minute or two from the other guards, he’ll have an opportunity to earn additional ones. Fox was at almost thirty six minutes-per-game last season, and if that number can be reduced a bit without huge negative impact, that’s a nice bonus.
It probably won’t happen this year due to his late start, but I could see Carter becoming Fox’s backup. And if they share some time? That is a speedy AF backcourt.
I hate to see Malik Monk lose time to an unproven player. Especially the last ten games of a playoff race. Counting on a unproven player in crunch time is not a good situation to be in. It has not worked recently.
It certainly would be nice for the Kings to get a good look at him before the deadline. If he is for real it opens up a lot of possibilities and flexibility for Monte. Carter being out may be a real reason why the Kings roster feels so guard heavy.
Probably part of the reason that Huerter was retained, for now
The trade market for a one armed shooting guard is on fire.
“Part of the reason”.
If one believes what was reported previously he was up for many trades. I cannot imagine trading for an injured player.
I’ve heard it said that most rookies don’t make an impact or at least don’t make a positive impact. Missing play until January, February, or March stacks the odds against him. I’m just hoping he was BPA by far due to the injury and will shine as his career progresses.
You can’t spell Devine without Devin.
Also, March is a long ways away.
Devin is divine.
Has the same injury and treatment as Huerter who will miss close to 8 months. I don’t think he can come back until March. They may just sit him for the season like OKC will do with Topic.
They knew he was hurt when they drafted him. The injury is one of the reasons he dropped on draft day and was hinted at when Monte said we are looking long term.
He was one of the top NBA ready guys but ready for the 2025 season, not 2024.
On tape his defense seems as good as Mitchell and offense, much better.
I am disappointed but don’t expect much.
I do think there is a missing piece to the lineup as most of us do. But that piece is hard to get and elusive. Who and how are big questions.
A big trade with another team wanting to balance its roster or a marginal pick up when a team wants to get better cap position.
One could make the argument that every team has “a missing piece”. For the Kings, the missing piece could be a few things, which has been discussed ad nauseum for a while.
I think Carter will be way better than Davion. Carter has the length and vertical game that Davion sorely lacked. This is all theoretical as of now, of course. Davion never really seemed to fit, and his diminutive size made on court lineups funky to assemble.
What few things do you think this team is missing?
I see a roster that is small but can score. The small guard that was drafted as an injured player probably does not fill any of the few missing things.
Backup 3 and D 2/3 or 3/4. Depth there is thin.
An upgrade at the 4/5 position. Lyles is more 4 than 5, and Robinson is a wild card. Len is only serviceable for spot minutes, and limited.
So despite the random back ups which could improve on you the see the ultimate starting line up like this…
Fox
Huerter (after recovery)
Derozan
IMPROVED 4 (an actual 4)
Sabonis
Off the bench we have Monk, Keegan, Ellis, and then the wheels come off.
Fox
Ellis
Derozan
Keegan
Sabonis
For the time being
I disagree.
Monte’s argument is that Carter is “for the long run”. We will see.
Missing: a proven back up 5, some rebounding, rim protection at the 4, length as a back up to 3.
We have a great guard that was traded before. Time to build a team instead of collect guards.
I think if he’s not back by January he’s probably not playing this year which would be a bummer. Teams are usually very cautious with first year guy’s with major injuries and this would seem to fit into that bucket. I also don’t think the Kings have a huge need at his position and finding him minutes would have been really difficult anyway.
I am hoping Monte knew he was injured and saw a good player that will be asset in the future. Monte knows we do not need him now. This team is finally getting to the point at which a draft does not impact the team immediately. That is a good place to be.
I think Keon’s emergence made Davion expendable. Carter is the plan to replace Davion. Probably won’t do much this season, which is fine.
I like the way Davion played the game and his approach but I do not think he was ever a must have. Ellis had nothing to do with that.
Ellis had everything to do with trading Davion. If not everything, Ellis accounted for 80% of the reasoning for moving on from Davion.
as has been stated over and over and over again, the kings are very very deep at the guard position. The team had to jettison at least one of their guards and Davion was the obvious choice because you had now gained a guy named Ellis. Had Huerter not been injured and was more enticing in trades with other teams then maybe (big maybe) Davion is still a King. The reality is Kevin was/is injured trade talks were surrounding him and he was made very available. Injured he wasn’t returning the level of player that was worth the exchange without potentially adding other assets (that still made any deals not advantageous to the roster building). That seems clear to me. Kevin is a good player that can and I think eventually will return a good player in a trade. I have so many more thoughts on this topic but I will leave it at that as to not write a 6,000 word dissertation.
good day to you and the rest of the wonderful Kings fans in here.
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