Spoilers for the ending, but Devon Carter’s rookie season grade is as much an incomplete as it is a D grade. For all his ups and downs, an injured start and an efficient stretch of games in March, the true upside and long-term fit for the former Providence Friar is a big unknown moving forward.
Shortly after getting drafted by the Kings at the 13th pick last summer, the team announced Devin was dealing with a shoulder injury, and he had surgery weeks later. Carter missed Summer League, training camp, and didn’t fully resume all basketball activities until after Christmas. That timetable and his lack of offseason conditioning certainly threw all expectations out the window for a rookie, especially one on a roster full of guards.
Carter returned in early January during the middle of Sacramento’s 7-game win streak, and while he didn’t get a ton of court time, he certainly had some moments. When the Kings beat the Celtics in Boston on January 11, he led a 4th quarter charge and had a 8-2 run on his own in route to 11 points and 4 boards as Sacramento upset the defending world champs. That moment made us all wonder if Carter was about to emerge as a real contributor on the roster, but Carter’s offense didn’t justify more immediate opportunities. Through January and February, he shot 31% and 38% from the field, and Doug Christie kept his minutes limited even as the Kings shuffled their guard rotation around after the De’Aaron Fox and Zach LaVine trade. Carter was always the 5th guard in the rotation, and further surrendered some of those minutes to Markelle Fultz in February and March.
Carter had a solid stretch of games in March, highlighted by a home win against the Cavaliers when he had a career-high 16 points to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals in 30 minutes. He shot 50% from the field in March, but that dropped to a dismal 31% again in his six games in April.
Carter’s effort and size on the defensive end was clear whenever he played even through his offensive and conditioning struggles. Per Cleaning the Glass, Sacramento held opponents to -1.8 fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, which was (hilariously) third among players with over 100 minutes played. Among those players with over 100 minutes played, he was 2nd for steal rate at 2.6%, and his 10.8% rebounding rate was 6th on the team and far and away the best mark for a guard. Per Cleaning the Glass, Carter’s 15.9% defensive rebounding rate was 99th percentile across all combo guards in the league.
Having another guard who can defend and snag rebounds like a small forward would be a real boon for the Kings, but not when he shot 37% from the field and 29.5% from three as a rookie. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Kings shot -1.7% below their average effective field goal percentage when he was on the floor. It’s key to point out that Carter only has one efficient deep-shooting season – his junior (and final) year at Providence – in his collegiate and NBA career. And the fact that Scott Perry has so publicly targeted point guard as the position of need is an indictment on all the current guards on the roster, Carter included.
I hope Carter proves Monte McNair correct in selecting him #13 overall last summer, but it’s hard to see the Kings guard rotation, both before and after the De’Aaron Fox trade, and wonder what the vision was. Indeed, plenty of rookies drafted in the same range as Carter had excellent first seasons and are great-to-solid pieces for their squads moving forward – Kel’el Ware (15th to Miami), Dalton Knecht (17th to the Lakers), Tristan Da Silva (18th to Orlando), Kyshawn George (24th to Washington), and Ryan Dunn (28th to Phoenix) were all selected after him. It isn’t truly Carter’s fault that his rookie season didn’t have the same impact as those others, but the fact remains.
This season was a true punt for Carter in every way. We’ll have to wait and see what kind of role he can provide to this team next season, or if he may be heading out in any roster shakeups from Scott Perry. The Kings have a multitude of guards on the roster and seem eager to add a true point guard to the mix, so Carter is somewhat of an afterthought on this roster until he proves otherwise.
Grade: D / Incomplete
Fair assesment.
My flabber was gasted when they picked him, with injury and all. I heard some story that he was picked for another team as part of a deal that fell through, but that makes me feel worse about the pick, not better. Thanks, Monte!
I like the guy, not sure yet if I like the player. He constantly looks like he’s on the edge of out of control, and more often than not on the wrong side of the edge. Looked that way in college too, from the limited film that I saw.
The Devin is in the details.
Oh, you can always Carter me away with puns!
It’s my divine Providence.
I’ve said this before, but he often trips/stumbles when driving to the basket. It cant be good for his shoulders. But on defense, he Devinitely gives a lot of effort.
Looking at the career of his father, AC, if DC can match that I will be Thunderstruck. Hells Bells, we could be Back in Black. He can Shoot to Thrill and make being a Kings fan much better on this Highway to Hell.
I don’t have high hopes for him. Undersized guards who can’t shoot don’t tend to have long careers in the NBA.
He’s listed as a PG, but I haven’t seen that ability. 6′-2″ SG’s are no bueno
“But his wingspan and standing reach!!!”
What about his 2nd jump?
That shooting form, egads.
Looks like a 4th guard/defensive specialist. A guy who will get spot minutes on a good playoff team at some point.
And the Kings are rumored to have interest in Marcus Smart, LOL.
“Devin will be traded along with DDR and a protected future 1st to Brooklyn in a salary dump by the Kings. Brooklyn will later flip DDR for an 2nd round pick and have Devin Carter outperform his sophomore year expectation. With the new cap space, Sacramento will sign Dennis Schroder and Chris Boucher 2 weeks into free agency to multi-year deals.”
What if Carter has starting NBA point guard upside? I’m convinced that draft picks are always lottery picks. You knew LeBron James, and way back, Kareem Abdul Jabbar were going to be good but who else? Kobe Bryant? Nicola Jokic? SGA? Tyrese Haliburton? Markus Fultz? In my fantasy scenario, Devin Carter emerges, hopefully for the Kings.
Well you got the fantasy part right.
Hated this pick when it happened, but held out hope. I somehow hate it more now. Drafted a 5th guard who had an injury on team that was desperate for wing and forward depth and needed someone to come in and contribute right away.
Draft grade is an F so far.
Ware and DaRon Holmes and DaSilva all would have helped the kings more., knecht and Mcain would have been better
Could’ve drafted hometown Jaylen Wells(picked 39th) and done better to this point. DC needs to make a big leap this summer.
Devin Carter was a combine star (front speed, jump heights, side speed) and was the Big East Player of the Year, projected to be selected in the mid-late lottery last draft class.
I agree that he hasn’t shown enough to classified boom or bust, but of what we did see, the effort and motor was very nice, but little else was impressive other than the bias of “hope potential” that I placed on anything positive I saw.
The rebounding seemed nice, the passing/assists were hard to find, the moonball is just plain ugly.
Of who was drafted – Ware seemed a big miss, and I think Sacramento’s Jaylen Wells would be another.
If Carter was part of deal that got quashed – that’s GM malpractice. You can’t draft someone for another team and then have them back out. Hard to imagine someone other than GM Divac doing a deal like that. I think that rumor was floated because an undersized older guard, and an injured one at that, seems a very McNair pick.
Personally, I like Carter’s game. His ceiling is most likely Josh Hart with better handles – I can rock with that…I just think he’s buried behind LaVine, Ellis, and Monk and doesn’t provide the G skills we actually need now that Fox and Davion are gone.
Me too, think we’ll regret letting him go if it’s for nothing like people are talking about
10 Bill+? Wow!
Now is the time to cash out Vivek!
Heh, I still remember when the Kings were sold for $535 million it was a then record. Crazy how high teams are selling for now.
Didn’t Greg Lukenbill pay 1 million for the Kings in 1984- KC Kings then
I think I read Lukenbill put in 4 million for his share of the 10.5
Lukenbill and Benvenuti bought the team for $10.5 million in 1983.
Sold 53% to Jim Thomas for $140 million valuation in 1992. Maloofs bought the team for $156 million in 1998.
The amount of money is professional sports is absolutely insane. I really hope no city every pays for an arena, stadium, ball park, etc. ever again. For the record, it cost $550M to build Golden One. The Kings paid about half of that.
I really hope you’re right. If someone has $10B to throw down on a new team, they can definitely spare (or borrow at minimal cost) another 5.5% of that (or $550MM) to build their own damn arena.
Ware was the obvious pick. Same way Sengun was the obvious pick over Davion.
But MM loves his undersized guards.
A young front court of KM, Ware and Sengun would have been nice.
I definitely thought Ware was the pick with DaSilva as an alternate choice if they weren’t sold on Ware’s ability to spread the floor. You know, the SF or PF that they seemed to covet in every trade but refused to draft.
I thought it was knecht 100% when he dropped
I think it’s crazy to give up on him so fast unless the get some legitimate return
Badge Legend