The Sacramento Kings‘ Devin Carter, the No. 13 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, will make his NBA debut on Friday, and his father, Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach Anthony Carter, will be on the opposite side.
“It’s definitely a special moment,” Carter told reporters Friday, via FOX40’s Sean Cunningham.
Carter had surgery in July to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He has missed Sacramento’s first 34 games, but this will not technically be his first time playing professionally. On Dec. 28, Carter scored 29 points on 8-for-11 shooting for the G League’s Stockton Kings in a win over the Austin Spurs. On Thursday, with his father in attendance, he put up 17 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in a win over the Memphis Hustle.
“Just thankful for the opportunity, really,” Carter said. “They told me last night that I was going to be able to play now after playing two games with the G, so I think it was a good experience. [I’m] ready to get going.”
Last year at Providence, Carter, a 6-foot-2 guard, established himself as one of the best defenders in college basketball and a drastically improved shooter. He will immediately make the Kings more athletic and, if paired with Keon Ellis, could give interim coach Doug Christie some more defense-oriented lineups.
Carter told reporters he wants to “bring some energy off the bench,” knock down open shots and pressure the opponent’s best player full-court. He wants to take pressure off of De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk defensively, he said.
Sacramento fired coach Mike Brown last week, and it has gone 1-2 in the Christie era: a 133-122 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, a 110-100 win against the Dallas Mavericks (who were without Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving) and a 113-107 come-from-behind win against the Philadelphia 76ers (who were without Joel Embiid).
On the season, the Kings are 15-19 and 12th in the West, with an offense that ranks eighth in the league and a defense that ranks 15th.
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