When it became common knowledge that the Sacramento Kings would be trading De'Aaron Fox for Zach LaVine and draft capital, many fans of the team were pretty excited. Finally, a deal that enables the team to remain competitive while also giving them future assets. Sounds like a win-win for everyone, right?
Well, not necessarily everyone. Unfortunately for this Kings player, the arrival of LaVine has led to a serious hit in their playing time.
Zach LaVine took all of Devin Carter's minutes
After nabbing him with the 13th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Kings have been very excited about the potential of Providence guard Devin Carter. And how could you not be? After all, some experts have even likened his skillset to the invaluable Derrick White.
That is why it was such a depressing blow that Carter had to miss the first few months of the season as he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery. When he did return, though, he was immediately inserted into the rotation. Once he was healthy, Carter appeared in 16 of the Kings' 17 games – averaging nearly 10 minutes per game in that span.
That was, until the team's recent win against the New Orleans Pelicans, aka their first game after all the pieces from the trade deadline (LaVine, Jake LaRavia, and Jonas Valanciunas) were officially in uniform. In that game, Carter logged a DNP-CD – his first one since returning from his shoulder injury (the other game he missed was due to injury).
To compound matters, on Sunday, the day after the game, the Kings assigned Carter to the Stockton Kings (the team's G-League affiliate), indicating that they didn't see a role for him in the current rotation. So, they chose to instead get him G-League minutes rather than force him to waste away on the big league bench.
Now, too be fair to LaVine, this isn't entirely on him. It also doesn't help that the team has another ball handler like LaRavia in the rotation. Still, before all these deadline trades, Carter was a fixture in the rotation. So, it isn't a stretch to say that life hasn't been great for Carter since LaVine was traded to the Kings.