The Sacramento Kings are where young talent goes to die. They have wasted more draft pick equity than any franchise outside of maybe the New Orleans Pelicans. The list of players who were failed by the organization is long and sad.
From Marvin Bagley III to former Indiana Pacer Tyreke Evans, the few players the Kings had who had early success eventually fell off a cliff as the miserable basketball ecosystem that was Sacramento took them down slowly.
And then there are players like the Pacers' very own Tyrese Haliburton.
Haliburton was excellent for Sacramento as a rookie. Although he shared a position with the Kings' other star, De'Aaron Fox, he stepped in and was immediately the second-best player on the team. That was apparently too much value for the Kings, as they traded him for Domantas Sabonis, in what was considered one of the worst moves of the year when it happened and has only aged worse.
All that is to say, a player working out with the Kings is the exception, not the expectation. By the same logic, a player failing to stick in Sacramento usually means very little about the capabilities of said player.
Which brings us to Devin Carter.
The Providence product was drafted in the lottery for the Kings, and failed to do much of anything before he was dumped in Atlanta with a second-rounder this offseason in exchange for the draft rights to the the 60th overall pick.
Carter has never really had the chance to be anything just yet, but his analytics suggest he could be the perfect third guard on a good team.
There's also a pretty perfect comparison for him in recent history, one that would be perfect for Indiana's roster.
Nickeil Alexander-Carter
Nickeil Alexander-Walker arrived in Minnesota after being a draft bust for the Pelicans and Utah Jazz. After being drafted as a presumed early difference maker due to his ability to play the one, two, or three, NAW failed to make waves on two rebuilding teams.
When he finally joined a winner, he very quickly broke out and became a seventh man on a team that made it to two Western Conference Finals.
Alexander-Walker always had the potential to be that level of player, but could not be that guy on a team that wasn't good enough to define his role.
The same could be true for Carter.
The two players are not perfect comps at their size – Walker has three inches and ten pounds on his fellow second draft option – but they both could benefit from being on better teams who can tune in more on their strengths without asking as much of them in fixing their weaknesses.
As is, the Pacers' best chance to add young talent is to find some sort of buy-low candidate. There are many avenues to do so, but few are as easy to imagine working out as this one. While AJ Johnson would be a swing for the fences, Carter would be a conservative but no less excellent bet.
Wings who can handle and rebound well enough to play guard are worth their weight in gold. Even at 195 pounds, Devin Carter is worth a try.
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