Sights and Sounds from Devin Carter's first month in the NBA
Carter recently returned from a shoulder injury and has been a welcome addition to Sacramento's roster
If you were expecting a write up about Providence’s win over Seton Hall, I’ve got bad news for you. Yes, Providence won in an incredibly ugly game over one of the worst high major teams in college basketball. Fantastic. But I can’t honestly say I learned a whole lot from that game, if you want me to give you the abbreviated version of 3 things we learned from Seton Hall, here it goes.
Providence still needs to target a point guard in the transfer portal this offseason. Jayden Pierre again had more turnovers (4) than assists (3) and now has 46 turnovers and 57 assists on the season. As I’ve been saying for months, good player, potential to be a very good off-ball guard, not a point guard. (Bensley Joseph wasn’t any better, with 4 turnovers and 3 assists of his own).
Corey Floyd Jr continues to play the best basketball of his career. I wrote after the Georgetown game how he has finally realized what his strengths are on the basketball court (specifically, attacking the paint and making plays for his teammates), and playing to them extremely effectively. We saw more of that again on Tuesday night.
Freshmen watch! Man is it fun watching Oswin Erhunmwunse get better every single game. He’s usually good for 1-2 ridiculous blocks a game and Tuesday night was no different. He is an absolute menace and if he has a good offseason, could very well come back in 2025-26 as the best player on Providence’s roster. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised to see him go 5-6 from the free throw line against Seton Hall too. It’s like watching a baby deer learn to run, he is going to be a serious problem for opponents next season. He’s almost off the graph on this view of Big East players by Defensive Player Rating x Blocks for 40 minutes, and anytime you’re in the same zip code as Ryan Kalkbrenner on one of these views, you’re doing pretty good!
The other freshman that Friartown has rightfully become infatuated with, Ryan Mela, struggled for his second consecutive game. It’s possible that he’s hit a bit of a freshman wall, or perhaps the book is out on him that he hasn’t yet developed a consistent 3 point shot, but either way I’ll be looking close to see how he finishes out the final 6 weeks of the season after having going on such a heater in early January.
That’s all for Seton Hall, gritty win against a truly horrendous team. Providence is in no position to be turning their nose up at wins though, so we’ll take it! Now for what I really wanted to talk about today, a former Friar superstar who made a surprise visit to the Seton Hall game as his team was in between stops in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, Devin Carter’s first month in NBA.
While Kim English and the Friars try to salvage the last 6 weeks of a disappointing season, English’s most successful former player is looking to do his part to salvage the season of his new NBA team. Devin Carter, who was selected 13th overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 2024 NBA draft, recently made his NBA debut after recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. The Kings have been mired in a letdown season of their own, firing head coach Mike Brown back in December, and are currently 10th in the western conference standings, 3 games back of a guaranteed playoff spot. But we don’t really care about the Kings that much, we care about Devin Carter.
Before Carter made his debut in Sacramento he suited up for Kings G-league affiliate as a bit of a rehab assignment. He quickly proved he was far too talented to be anywhere near the NBA’s minor leagues.
When Carter made his NBA debut two days later against the Memphis Grizzlies where his dad is an assistant coach, it was the culmination of a lifelong dream. Sacramento fans are almost as rabid as Friartown, as the city has no other professional sports team and the team has often played little brother to the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors over the last two decades, and they gave Carter a deserved welcome.
Pretty freaking cool! Carter went scoreless in 10 minutes in his debut, but finished with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. The next night Carter had the pleasure of guarding one of the greatest basketball players to ever live, Steph Curry, as the Kings trounced the Warriors 129-99. The reigning Big East Player of the Year finished with 13 points (4-11 FG, 2-7 3PT, 3-4 FT), 7 rebounds, and 2 assists in what was his most productive NBA game to date.
Perhaps Carter’s most memorable experience of his young NBA career came a week after his debut, when the Kings traveled cross country to play the Boston Celtics. Friartown came out in droves to support the former Providence superstar, and as you would expect, Carter’s performance on the court did not disappoint as he finished the game with 11 points (4-8 FG, 3-5 3PT), 4 rebounds and 1 assist in 17 minutes of game time.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Kim English should be pounding the table and pointing to Devin Carter’s ascension last season on every recruiting visit that he goes on. He’d also be wise to highlight how Friar fans traveled from as far away as Delaware to be in Boston for Carter’s inaugural east coast return. To say that Friartown has a devoted fanbase might be the understatement of the year. The official Sacramento Kings social media accounts have also taken a liking to Friartown, and it’s been equal parts unbelievable and totally expected to see them lean into their rookie’s college roots.
Alright, you get the point. But as a fellow… Friar… myself, I gotta say, that’s pretty damn cool! (and yes I’m sure it doesn’t Devin Carter hurt jersey sales either).
In the 11 games Carter made his Debut, the Sacramento Kings are 7-4. Carter is still fighting for minutes at this stage in his career, averaging 4.2 points (31.8% FG, 27.3 3PT%, 75% FT), 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists in just a shade under 11 minutes a game. With the NBA trade deadline fast approaching and the Kings one of the teams expected to be active, I suspect that Carter’s usage is about to see an increase, and knowing the former Friar star, he’ll be ready to take advantage of it.