Sep 29, 2025; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Devin Carter (22) during media day at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
One of the biggest talking points for the Sacramento Kings this offseason has been around their glut of guards. Between newly signed Dennis Schröder, Zach LaVine, Keon Ellis, and Malik Monk, the Kings have four players who could start for teams around the league. The guard that has generally been left out of the mix is second-year player Devin Carter.
Carter was involved in the Jonathan Kuminga trade rumors, but with no trade materializing, he’s back for his second season for Sacramento. And even though he looks like the odd guard out of the group on the Kings, he still has a clear path to playing time as the backup point guard.
Monk has manned the point guard duties since the departure of Davion Mitchell, but having him be the full-time point guard last season didn’t go as well as everyone in Sacramento had hoped.
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When asked about his opportunity to play the backup point guard position during media day, Carter discussed his plans to continue his work on developing his point guard skills with the help of Schröder and Bobby Jackson.
“We went to LA as a team and we played, and I was running point guard and I feel like I did pretty good. Now we got Dennis here. Definitely going to ask Dennis a lot of questions, he’s been around a long time,” Carter said. “I was talking to [Bobby Jackson] the other day…it took him three years to fully learn what it was to be a point guard in the NBA. He was like, it’s not going to be easy. He kind of had the same route as me, coming from college, scoring and everything. And then coming into the NBA with the change of roles and change of position, so definitely going to be talking to [him] a lot.”
Carter has a difficult situation where he has the skills of a shooting guard, but the body of a point guard. That’s a tough spot to be in, especially on a team that has too many shooting guards to begin with. But if he can continue to learn the point guard position, he’ll not only open an opportunity for this season with the Kings, but his whole NBA career.
The other good news for Carter is that Doug Christie and the Kings are putting a major focus on the defensive side of the ball this year. Christie spoke about defense over and over yesterday during his interviews, with his vision being picking up opponents full court and letting defense lead to offense.
That’s Carter’s exact style of play, and something he noted as well on media day. “Yeah for sure. I’m very good at defending in my eyes. [Doug Christie] asked me to guard the best player on the court every night when I step on the court. Pick him up full court. I definitely feel like that is a way to get on the court.”
Sacramento has so much offensive talent on this roster that Carter doesn’t need to do much on that end of the court. But if can come in and play hard for short stints, he could work his way into the rotation. He showed at the end of last season how he can impact the game on the defensive end as a pesky defender, and him and Keon Ellis have the opportunity to be a fearsome one-two punch in the passing lanes.
Carter has a lot of challenges ahead of him, but at the beginning of the offseason, it felt like he would either be traded or out of the rotation. But as the season looms, the opportunity for him is right there for the taking. Now all we can do is wait to see what happens and if he can slot in as the backup point guard for the team.
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