In the cutthroat world of the NBA, lottery picks can go from prized prospects to unwanted baggage faster than a fast break. Just ask Devin Carter, the 13th overall pick from the 2024 draft whose meteoric fall from grace has left him stranded on the Sacramento Kings’ roster like a forgotten benchwarmer. After a disastrous preseason and a failed sign-and-trade offer to the Golden State Warriors for Jonathan Kuminga, Carter’s future hangs by a thread—and the clock on his comeback? It’s not even started ticking.
The Kings, clearly over the 23-year-old guard, have stacked their backcourt deeper than a playoff rotation. Signing former MVP Russell Westbrook earlier this week was the final nail in Carter’s coffin, fortifying a guard lineup already bursting with Dennis Schröder, Zach LaVine, Malik Monk, and Keon Ellis. With that much star power (and salary) clogging the depth chart, Carter’s slim preseason stats—5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists on a brutal 37.5% from the floor and a laughable 10.0% from deep in just 15.1 minutes per game—look even more damning. Doug Christie’s rotation? Forget about it. Carter’s spot is as secure as a paper contract.
NBA insider Jake Fischer dropped the harsh truth in The Stein Line on Saturday: Carter’s days in Sacramento are numbered, but good luck finding a suitor. “His name has already featured in trade chatter throughout this offseason,” Fischer reported. “Yet it could take a while for an actual trade to materialize.” The front office shakeup didn’t help—draft architects Monte McNair and Wes Wilcox are long gone, leaving Carter as the unwanted souvenir of a bygone regime. The Kings even waived Terence Davis on Friday to clear cap space for Westbrook, but Carter clings to the roster… for now.
Golden State had the last laugh on that laughable sign-and-trade proposal: Carter, Dario Šarić, and two second-round picks for Kuminga? The Warriors didn’t just decline—they reportedly chuckled it off. And they’ve been vindicated. League-wide interest in Carter is colder than a Sacramento winter, despite his team-friendly $4.9 million salary this year and a $5.2 million option picked up for next season. At this rate, that “value” is about as useful as a flat tire.
Ironically, the one piece from that rejected deal who’s thriving? Šarić. With Keegan Murray sidelined by a thumb injury, the ex-Warrior big man is poised for real minutes at power forward. His preseason explosion—9.7 points and 2.7 rebounds on a scorching 53.4% from three—has Kings fans salivating. Talk about a plot twist: the 30-year-old veteran is cooking, while the lottery kid is getting roasted.
For Carter, a Providence product once hailed as a two-way steal, this is rock bottom. Unwanted by the Kings, snubbed by the Warriors, and invisible to the rest of the league, his NBA dream is teetering on the edge of irrelevance. Preseason was a wake-up call; the regular season could be the funeral. Unless a desperate team bites on that cheap contract, Devin Carter’s not just cooked—he’s charred. And with no signs of recovery on the horizon, the countdown to irrelevance has officially begun.