It may be awhile before we get to see Kings rookie Devin Carter in action

If you were excited to watch Sacramento Kings first round pick Devin Carter play in the NBA, it looks like you may have to wait awhile.

On Sunday, it was announced that the Providence product (say that five times fast) is going to undergo shoulder surgery that could force him to miss the early portion of the 2024-25 regular season.

As noted by Damien Barling (a good follow on Twitter for fans of the Kings), this surgery could take 6-8 months to recover from. Based on that timetable, he won't be back until the early part of 2025 (which would be midway through the next regular season).

This news is coming shortly after we found out that Carter would not be available for the 2024 Summer League (neither the California Classic nor the big show in Las Vegas).

The Kings Can Handle Life Without Carter In The Short Term

This is a tough blow, especially because we were all eager to see him play. Plus, given his age (he turned 22 in March), Carter could theoretically have an immediate impact (like Brandin Podziemski on the Golden State Warriors last year) on the Kings next year.

With that said, the Kings should still be able to move along with their deep playoff run aspirations even without Carter. Even after trading away Davion Mitchell and Sasha Vezenkov, the Kings still have plenty of guards/wings on their roster. Between De'Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter (if he's still on the team to start the season), Keon Ellis, Malik Monk, and their new acquisitions DeMar DeRozan and Jordan McLaughlin, the Kings have plenty of players who can log minutes at the point or shooting guard position.

This injury may end up being a blessing in disguise. Having surgery now will allow Carter to address a nagging injury right now so that he can focus on his burgeoning NBA career (fortunately, he's expected to make a full recovery). On top of that, you avoid worrying about taking minutes away from Ellis – one of the biggest bright spots of the team last season.

The Kings selected Carter with the 13th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. They also signed undrafted rookies Isaiah Crawford (who I am really high on) and Isaac Jones shortly after the draft concluded. The 2024-25 NBA Season is set to kick off at the end of October 2024.