The pick is in.
After weeks of speculation, there was no trade, there was no Ron Holland (who went 5th) or Zach Edey (9th), but instead Providence guard Devin Carter, a player known for his intensity and effort on defense. Carter is the son of former NBA veteran Anthony Carter and played his last two seasons at Providence where he averaged 19.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.0 blocks last season in 35.3 minutes per game. He shot 47.3% from the field and 37.7% from three and won the 2023-24 Big East Player of the Year.
Kings fans may be wondering about the fit of drafting yet another guard, especially one who measured out at just over 6’2, but Carter’s wingspan measures at nearly 6’9, making him play far bigger than his size (just check out those rebounding numbers). Carter also set impressive athleticism marks at the NBA Combine with a 42″ vertical and a combine record 2.87 three-quarter court sprint. The Kings ended up passing on other prospects like Dalton Knecht (17th), Tristan da Silva (18th), and DaRon Holmes (currently undrafted as of the time of this post with the Raptors on the clock at 19) that Kings fans may have thought fit better, but only time will truly tell. We’ll get our first proper look at Carter likely in a couple weeks at the California Classic. For more on Carter, check out our Draft Prospect discussion.
It still remains to be seen how the Kings roster will shape out. While the Kings weren’t able to find any takers for the 13th pick, that doesn’t mean they are done shaping the roster. It seems unlikely that the Kings will be content to stand pat, and something will have to be done about the glut of guards the Kings have, especially with the Kings still needing size in the frontcourt. Moves are still out there to be made, and the addition of Carter might change the calculus for the Kings in potentially including guys like Davion Mitchell, Colby Jones or (gulp) Keon Ellis in potential trades.
The first round of the 2024 NBA Draft is still ongoing, and the second round will take place tomorrow. We’ll be sure to provide any updates on further trades, picks or other Kings related news.
But for now, welcome to Sacramento, Devin Carter!
Welcome, Mr. Carter!
Now Monte can trade Davion and Huerter/Barnes to try and find a PF.
Except he will probably trade those three for another undersized guard
Patience man. The roof ain’t falling. They got a good prospect, let things play out.
You are correct that I need patience, and know the roofing I was just hoping for something.
We all Want2win!
This team hasn’t won a playoff series since 2003-2004.
How much more patience do you want?
Maybe another week at least until free agency starts?
Yup, Davion and huerter gonna be goin
Somebody floated the idea of shifting Huerter to SF. If the Kings went out and grabbed someone like Jalen Smith with the MLE, things are starting to take shape.
Boo! Very disillusioned with this pic unless there is some sort of trade in the works. I just don’t get it, I really don’t get it
I honestly feel like Ellis is now the most valuable trade chip we have. With his age, contract, and skills, he could be the focus of a pretty big trade when combined with salary filler and possibly picks.
I agree about Ellis’ value, and I’m sure that McNair knows, too. Makes him very easy to not trade. He may end up being the best value in the entire league.
Would not be surprised to see Huerter and or Monk go out (when permissible) at some point, and together, make a compelling package.
Ellis still starts, but Fox & Carter will be the fastest back court in the NBA.
I think Huerter will be traded for sure. I’m just not sure he has the value to get the kind of player we need. I definitely don’t see us trading Monk after he almost definitely passed up more money to sign with us before free agency.
When you look at trying to get the kind of player we need to take us to the next level, players like Barnes and Huerter just don’t get it done. Getting a star requires picks and/or really good young players.
Understanding that Fox, Sabonis, and Keegan are all but untouchable, we just don’t have any other trade chips (other than picks) that will get us the star we need except for Ellis. I don’t want to give him up. But drafting Carter just made it a lot easier.
Huerter is the most unique guard on the roster though. Fox/Monk are similar, Keon/Carter are similar. Meanwhile, Huerter is a 6’7″ smooth shooting wing that can playmake out of the PnR, rebound, and play 2/3 on defense.
I really like the idea of Huerter as the backup to the 2/3 spot on this team. He’s versatile on both sides of the ball and he’s only 26.
I’d rather trade the redundancies which right now is Keon/Carter/Colby. Unfortunately, though, I like all 3 of those guys, especially with their contracts. What Monte does next will be very interesting.
McNair grabbed Ellis from the undrafted free agent pile about two seconds after his draft ended, and may value him as a success, aside from being on a dream deal from the team’s perspective.
That said, McNair doesn’t seem to be sentimental about player, and is willing to do what needs to be done when he believes the deal is right. If you can package Ellis with two of Barnes/Huerter/Monk (or all three), it’s very possible to get good return.
I hope Ellis stays, the difference in team defense when he took the starting job was, to put it mildly, seismic. He’s a difference-maker, and hasn’t even begun looking for his shot yet.
Wonder if part of Monk’s signing was a nod that we would send him to a good situation via trade.
We’re not trading Monk. He’s one of 2 players in the entire roster that can create for himself and others off the dribble.
I’d be surprised too. Just piggybacking on Andy’s comment.
I doubt that anyone said that out loud, but once Monk becomes tradable, he becomes a very attractive target for teams, given his team, and very reasonable contract.
Monk is officially untouchable until December and, I think, effectively untouchable for credibility reasons unless he agrees to a trade for the next couple of seasons.
If Monte wants to reach for the “Trade Fox” button that story changes but I don’t think that is even remotely happening.
Hmm…trading Fox didn’t occur to me. Interesting.
My guess too. Keon is on the block in order to get a team to take Huerter or Barnes off our hands.
I don’t think they need to attach anything to Huerter to move him. He had a down year but he’s still pretty young and is a good player. I’d actually prefer we keep Huerter and move the other guys just for roster flexibility purposes.
He’s up to a down year and a half now, with multiple playoff game no-shows. If he keeps it up, we may have to pull a Holmes to move him.
I think we have a tendency to overvalue our own players.
Also, the sample size for Keon is quite small.
Didn’t much want a guard, but it’s not hard to understand why you grab a guy like Carter if he’s there for you. With his length, he’ll guard 1-3, and he is all dawg on the perimeter.
Obviously, there will be some guards going out, but most of them will draw interest from other teams. Here we go!
Even so, what I find odd is not going after totally switchable length/wings. It’s were the league is going/has gone.
And maybe he will. They need more length/switch ability.
No offense to Mr. Carter, but WTF?
I like Devin Carter and am convinced he will be at minimum a rotation NBA player but this pick makes no damn sense unless at least 1 and preferably 2 of Mitchell/Ellis/Huerter are being shipped out.
Huerter has to be good as gone at this point. Davion, too. I think Ellis stays– too good of a value– unless another team demands him as a throw-in for some bigger deal that nets the Kings a legit 3rd star.
And if I see one complaint talking about Carter taking Colby’s minutes, my eyes may roll completely out of my head. I like the kid, but he’s extremely low-priority at the moment. Another year in the D-league will do him some good, with spot duty in Sacramento.
ESPN NBA trade machine shows Colby Jones on a full NBA contract at $2M/4yrs. Is this not correct?
I have no idea, to be honest. Far as I know, there isn’t anything about his contract that precludes him playing in the D-league.
Yes 4/$8.76m
Agreed. Colby is my favorite little pet project. Just keep polishing that gem in the G-League for another year and I bet he’ll be a player. And he could even play 1-3 which makes him viable to play even if we keep all the guards.
Colby has a long way to go to crack the back of the rotation. At least another year, maybe two. He had a solid showing in G-league, but was also reminded repeatedly with his stints on the floor at G1C that the NBA is miles above the G-league in terms of skill.
That said, I’d imagine the same will be said for Carter. As Jones likely goes around 13-17 if he was in this draft.
That is a fascinating take, and to my knowledge, completely original.
He’ll of a group we have here that fully crashed the site after the pick. I like the pick but think this means moves are going to made to move some guards off our roster to balance it.
I just can’t imagine they want to trade keon with that value contract he has
Heard wizards preferred expiring contracts in a trade for Kuz. Lyles, Mitchel plus a future pick. HB and Hueter may still be on the team unless they pull off Brandon Ingram type deal I think.
That’s fine with me, great depth tbh
five guard rotation with fox, monk, keon, huerter and carter.
then legit forward rotations finally with murray, kuz and barnes.
OK with your take. I prefer Ingram over Kuzma bur don’t really like his contract. If Vivek is willing to spend the money then Ingram. Question for you all. Wizards traded Deni Avdija last night so does that make it easier or harder for the kings to trade for Kuzma if they so desired?
IMO more like Huerter and Mitchell will be moved.
I’m very upset with Monte. Holmes and Knecht are sitting there and as usual Monte doesn’t make moves and picks yet another guard. I’m not convinced he’ll be able to get a decent wing or big for our spare guards. I’ll wait and see but if they start the season with this many guards that’s criminally negligent.
They won’t and you know it. First 2 guards to go are Mitchell and Huerter. He will keep Ellis unless he can get a really good player like maybe Markannen. Ellis starts and if Carter is as good as advertised then he backs up Fox and plays along side Monk. Pick up a Naji Marshall in FA at SF then what a 3 player bench with scoring and really good defense. But Monty’s first priority IMO is to get a really good PW to play next to Sabonis.
Well, say what you will, but it appears the Kings drafted a somebody who has played basketball on a team.
Monty must have a plan to be taking another guard when needs are elsewhere. I can see he took the best player available, but either we keep him and trade other guards (Mitchell/Jones) or we will soon hear that he was grabbed to trade to another team. Either plan would be good, depending on the trade return, of course.
Have some faith in Monty. IMO he knows what he’s doing.
I can see why they drafted Carter – BPA on the board and defends the wing with a long wingspan. He’ll be there to contest shots and jack up 3s in the second unit. This also implies the Kings aren’t happy with Mitchell and he’s on his way out. This adds some wing defense to the second unit while not giving away offense. McNair will also have his hands full shipping out a bunch of guards to bring in a Forward.
We hope he is BPA but no evidence as yet .
Give it another 24 hours, chief.
You still have Barnes and Huerter. IMO that will help. Not much but don’t forget Vezankov and Duarte.
Caption it..
This pick is solely dependent on the moves that come next. I like Carter in a vacuum and all the smart draft people seem to love him. He wasn’t really supposed to be there at 13. I’m guessing he was the top guy on Monte’s board so he took him. That said, if there are no moves made to balance the roster before the season starts (feels impossible but I thought that last year too), this makes no sense and this team probably isn’t making the playoffs. At least next years draft is loaded and Cooper Flagg would probably help on the wing.
Yeah, the whole “this must mean other moves are coming!” thing has played out too many times before. Hope, but never expect.
Flagg likely no. 1 pick . Hope Kings win more than 15 games .
The Hawks went from the play-in to the number one pick this year. Don’t have to be that bad to jump to the top of the lottery.
Sabonis at the 5, Fox at the 4, Malik at the 3, Carter at the 2, and Davion at the 1.
Might get it done!
i agree but let’s give Monty a couple of days to work things out. I really like this pick.
29 NBA teams: “We are going big, 7′ players are back, it’s a wing league!”
Monte: “Give me all your pesky guards under 6’4″‘
I’m fine with Carter and think he’s gonna be a very good NBA player, but this pick feels a BPA choice in a weak draft. Monte’s work is now ahead of him. Unfortunately, every team knows he’s heavy in guards and needs long wings, so what leverage has he lost?
Huerter, who’m Monte traded a 1st for, is now lost in a bog of guards…and don’t get me started on Monk’s new deal, which is awesome, but now only adds to the guard cap hit on this roster. Something has to give. Give me hope, Monte!
Ringer had Carter as #5 on his final big board. There will be fewer guards around come fall, and at least one of the more obvious needs will be filled by then.
I guess the question is-is this a Monte first year Hall awesomeness or the Davion underwhelming/head scratching Monte pick.
Prob a tweener.
McNair went for the Friar over the Flyer.
I was surprised that Holmes made it to the twenties, but grateful the Lakers didn’t take him. I can happily root for him in Denver.
Trade up for Filipowski?
Ya baby! I love Carter. And, we’re cornering the market on small guards! Teams will be begging us for guards.
Just thinking. How about Mitchell and Duarte for DaRon Holmes?
Hah, think harder.
We got a great player. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s part of the rotation playing 20+ minutes a night from start of the season. He might already be the second best guard on this team. Dudes a Dawg
If he was clearly BPA on Monte’s board then I agree with the pick. I’m sure Brown likes it as well. Kings now have 2 guards who can guard the perimeter and slow the opposing team layup drills.
exactly! And that’s going to go a long way in covering up for Domas and his lack of rim protection. And he rebounds like Josh Hart to make up for HB’s lack of rebounding.
I’m hoping HBs lack of rebounding this year is due to him being in another city.
I could see the logic. If this was Monte pick after year 1 I’d have just assumed he knew what he was doing.
If it works out Keon as a starter and Devin as the backup.
Yay! The site is back up. Hope Carter is the next Spider Mitchell or Ant Edwards. Otherwise it seems like wasted pick. Other GMs gonna squeeze Monte as he tries to offload surplus guards. Or is Fox now expendable?
I’m guessing you’re being hyperbolic
Wish Kings and new King – Carter all the best but will admit bummed in passing on Holmes and Ware .
Like the player, hate the current roster construction and am sceptical that Monte will succeed in reshaping the roster.
Time will tell.
Yeah at this point MM has lost the benefit of the doubt.
Jay Bilas just highlighted Devin Carter for two or three minutes and said, among many other things, that Carter is ready to play now in the NBA and help a team win…he just makes winning plays. If it’s on UTube or a later showing of Van Pelt’s show it’s worth a watch.
Check out Hoop Intellects scouting report on Carter on YouTube. The tape don’t lie – the guy can flat out play. First Team All DAWG.
I don’t think any of us doubt that Devin Carter is a good prospect it’s just that the logjam at guard is baffling.
Monte will give us clarity before October. The offseason has just begun. Sign Jalen Smith and trade a couple guards for a 3/4 and this team will be cooking with gas.
IMO shortly it won’t be.
I saw HI vids on Carter this past week and spent a little time looking at his college stats. On Vids he looks great. A two way player in every sense of that moniker. The NBA can be a coy mistress, but Carter looks as ready as anyone drafted tonight to contribute.
The roster needs work, but Carter looks like a great pick. Just listened to Seth Davis who picked the Lakers as a winner for taking Knecht so late in the draft and then said the Kings were winners for taking Carter.
I will just have to try to wish it into existence that Keon is still. King in October.
He will be unless a big and I repeat deal is going on.
Well at least we have one dawg on the team now. Trade for Portis and we’ll have two.
I am with you on Portis. He would be a high value pick up for the Kings.
I also agree.
Portor would be great. I guess my ? With Carter is-can he shoot? Had the one year-like Davion. Weird motion.
Of he’s can shoot then this makes sense as a pic. Carter is going to have to be pretty damn good to justify ignoring the needs of this team.
Monte definitely has A Type– smart, mature, hard-working prospects with defined NBA-ready skills. He may never hit a grand slam with that mentality, but he won’t strike out, either.
Davion wasn’t a strike out? Mixed results at best.
My take is that Monte picking Haliburton was a grand slam.
And signing an undrafted Keon Ellis was at least a clean single.
https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/40441600
Hopefully this works. It’s the Jay Bilas interview I saw on ESPN.
Bilas’ thoughts on who is best ready to contribute and help an NBA win begins around the 2 minute 28 seconds into the video.
Wow. Interesting. Maybe this is a 1st year Monte great pic.
Monte and co were obviously focused on landing Carter -even before draft perhaps.
If we’re to believe all these tweets going round by so-called draft pundits, 90% of the first round picks in a so-called weak draft are gonna be contributors.
Something does not compute.
I generally like all the older guys and generally dislike all the teens outside the lottery. Knecht, Holmes, Da Silva, Scheirmann, and Tyson are all gonna be role players for 8-10 years. Kyshawn George, Dadiet, Walter, Missi and Collier will all be bench players or out of the league in 5 years.
A short guard, who isn’t a good ft shooter and is one of the older players in the draft…… who would have thought?
MM has a type.
Very true! I wish it was length….
This definitely can’t be it. Monte is smarter than running it back with this. I have a feeling they are going to get in on the Nets wholesale rebuild. Not making the playoffs and keeping this year’s pick really limited Monte on what he can do as far as acquiring a “star”. Not having those picks available hurt since that’s the only asset they have that can return a big time player. Please no Zach Lavine.
Adam Finkelstein / Kyle Boone:
This is a straight A. Carter was one of my three favorite prospects in this class relative to expectations. He’s an elite competitor going to a team where he can help right away. You don’t bet against elite competitors. He stepped up big-time when Bryce Hopkins went down. He has an NBA pedigree, and he is ready to go.
I like the pick. Need more rebounds and defense from guard position.
If this means Davion gets zero minutes or gets traded then I like the pick.
I don’t get all of the fuss about this pick.
Carter seems like he can contribute from day one, and in important ways. High motor? Long arms? Great defender? Super athletic? High IQ? AT 13? Sign me up.
Logjam? Colby Jones isn’t even an NBA player yet. I love Davion, but at this point he is an end of the bench player. Why would either of them be a factor on a lottery pick?
Too many gaurds? Is the season starting in a few weeks or a few months? Why is anyone thinking the roster is set? Literally every team needs shooting, K-Von on a reasonable contract is going to find a good home.
Redundancy is a strength. Players can be dealt without a need to fill their role. Hali was a find at 12, and he became the main asset in a trade that brought a center who has averaged 19-13-7 since becoming a King, making an All Star team and two NBA teams, all without the Kings needing to fill a Hali sized hole.
What big wings or power forwards were there at 13 that could contribute next season? Knecht? If he hits, he is Kevin Huerter. Both of those needs are much better handled through trades and FA.
I am very excited to see Carter as a King.
Thanks for talking me off the ledge
I think the idea would be to have traded 13 -plus perhaps- to land a wing/4 already playing. A starter.
Ideally, yes. I wonder if the Kings got on the clock at 13 and were surprised that Carter was still there, they had a hugh grade on him, and didn’t like any of the potential deals out there so they just drafted him and decided to figure it out later? Maybe.
Great perspective. From the moment I read about him, I was down with that shit. I just didn’t see a path for him being a King, but the more I read about it, the more excited I am about Carter.
At the time that Haliburton was drafted, some Kings fans bitched and moaned about his redundancy, as you mentioned. It worked out just fine. I like MM’s approach here, selecting who he thinks is BPA. Dude sticks to his guns. Fuck yeah!
I extra love that it has the whiniest of our fans crying about it.
Carter looks good. Plays bigger than his listed 6’2. I love that he plays “above the rim” – catching lobs, grabbing rebounds, throwing down dunks.
I can see him as a contributor sooner vs. later, and hopefully this drives a trade to free up some guard rotation minutes.
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