Can Devin Carter help the Kings? Here’s what Sacramento’s recent NBA draft history tells us
The Sacramento Kings added Providence guard Devin Carter with the No. 13 pick Wednesday in the 2024 NBA draft, hoping his athleticism and intangibles can help bolster a roster that’s trying to advance in the playoffs.
Carter could be part of the team’s core for years to come, and general manager Monte McNair has had some notable hits with his draft selections.
Here’s a look at the team’s recent picks in the last five drafts as a backdrop, ahead of the addition of Carter.
Why Sacramento didn’t pick in Round 1 of 2019
The Kings didn’t have a first-round pick in 2019 because of a salary dump trade in 2015 that sent Carl Landry, Jason Thompson and Nik Stauskas to the Philadelphia 76ers. They received the rights to Arturas Gudatis and Luka Mitrovic — neither of whom played a game in the NBA — while clearing cap space to pursue free agents for 2016. Then-general manager Vlade Divac was linked to veterans Wesley Matthews, Monta Ellis and Rajon Rondo to reshape the roster.
It was Divac’s first significant trade after being hired by Sacramento. He used the cap space gained by signing Rondo and the team went 33-49 in the point guard’s only campaign in Sacramento. The most notable aspect of Rondo’s season: getting suspended for anti-gay remarks to NBA official Bill Kennedy.
Suffice to say, the trade to create cap space that cost Sacramento its first-round pick in 2019 didn’t work out in the long run.
Kings land a star in 2020
The 2020 draft will be remembered for the oddities surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. Anthony Edwards was not considered a slam dunk pick at No. 1 overall but has since ascended to stardom. Big man James Wiseman was a colossal bust for the Golden State Warriors after going No. 2.
At No. 11, the Kings made arguably the best pick of the entire draft by taking Iowa State guard Tyrese Haliburton, which came as somewhat of a surprise given the team drafted De’Aaron Fox three years earlier. Haliburton and Fox proved to be an uneasy fit in Fox’s back court, but it was clear Haliburton had promise in the league.
That was general manager Monte McNair’s first draft. He was hired in September and the draft was held in November because the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the previous season. Despite the unusual circumstances, the Kings hit a rare home run, and it helped them end the league’s longest playoff drought in history three years later.
The Kings traded Haliburton in a six-player swap to the Indiana Pacers for center Domantas Sabonis at the trade deadline in 2022. Sabonis since then has been one of the league’s most productive regular season players. He was named to the All-Star team in 2023 and has been on third-team All-NBA during his first two full seasons with Sacramento.
Haliburton, meanwhile, was an All-Star for Indiana the last two years and helped lead the team to the Eastern Conference Finals this spring. The Haliburton-Sabonis swap will go down as one of the rare blockbuster trades that worked out well for both teams. It will also remain one of the most hotly debated deals for years to come.
Rotation player added in 2021
McNair went against consensus and went with another guard in his second draft (with Haliburton still on the roster months before the Sabonis trade). He selected Baylor point guard Davion Mitchell ninth overall, adding a defensive presence to a crowded back court.
Mitchell has been a steady rotation player in his three seasons since, which included playing for two coaches as a rookie in Luke Walton and Alvin Gentry, who served as interim before Mike Brown was hired after the 2022 season. Mitchell has earned the nickname “Off Night” for his pestering of opposing point guards on defense. He’s averaged 5.5 points on nearly 17 minutes per game in his two seasons under Brown.
Keegan Murray becomes a focal point in 2022
McNair continued his trend of going against the grain when Sacramento had the No. 4 pick in 2022. He took Keegan Murray, a forward who played around the basket for Iowa, rather than tapping explosive guard Jaden Ivey, whom many prognosticators thought was the fourth best player available.
Much like taking Haliburton, history appears to be on McNair’s side with the Murray pick. He set the NBA record for made 3s by a rookie, with 206, while shooting them efficiently at 41%. His efficiency dipped in his second season, in 2023-24, as he took on a bigger role offensively, which included handling the ball more after being primarily a spot-up shooter as a rookie. He shot 36% from distance.
Given his rise, the Kings’ success in the short and long term can be tied directly to Murray’s development. He turns 24 in August and has many traits teams throughout the league covet: shooting, the ability to guard multiple positions, and size.
Ivey, meanwhile, has been stuck on the Detroit Pistons, which won 17 games last season and doesn’t have a clear path back to relevance.
Kings swap out of pick in 2023
The Kings were busy in 2023 despite not adding marque names through the draft. They traded their pick at No. 24 and center Richaun Holmes to the Dallas Mavericks for cash considerations. The saved Sacramento $12 million last season and cleared $12.9 million this year, which helped Sacramento sign Sabonis to a five-year, $217 million extension last summer.
The Kings are hopeful their two second-round picks will develop rotation roles this season and beyond. They added guard Colby Jones from Xavier with the No. 34 pick after a trade with the Boston Celtics before taking forward Jalen Slawson from Furman with pick No. 54.
Slawson appeared in just 12 games while playing primarily with the G-League team in Stockton. Jones saw his playing time increase as the season went on and hopes to carve out more minutes in his second season.
