The Kings are in win-now mode and added to that timeline Wednesday night by selecting Providence guard Devin Carter with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Carter, 22, was named the 2023-24 Big East Player of the Year after averaging 19.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game. The 6-foot-3 guard has all the qualities Kings head coach Mike Brown can fall in love with.
Carter is NBA ready. He makes winning plays. He has that dog in him, and he should be able to make an impact early in Sacramento.
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While Carter is undersized, his wingspan is nearly 6-9 and he plays much bigger than his height. In the Big East last season, he ranked third in rebounds per game and second in total defensive rebounds. Carter also finished in the top five of steals per game among all Big East players in each of the last two seasons.
Beginning his college career at South Carolina, Carter improved as a shooter in each of his three college seasons. He shot 42.0/26.7/68.8 as a freshman, 42.7/29.9/72.0 as a sophomore and then took a leap to 47.3/37.7/74.9 as a junior. The shooting improvements don’t appear to be an outlier to experts.
Throughout the draft process evaluators seemed to love everything Carter brings to the court. Being one of the best athletes in the draft helps, too.
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There might have been a few other players still on the board who made more sense positionally, but it’s hard to argue with the Kings’ thought process here. Can Carter be everything that Davion Mitchell hasn’t been? That has to be the hope.
A grinder, a hustler and a proven player who can do a little bit of everything. Kings general manager Monte McNair must have been smiling wide when Carter slid down to the end of the lottery.
Grade: A-