Draft analyst compares Sacramento Kings draft pick Devin Carter to Derrick White

The Sacramento Kings had a great offseason. They retained Malik Monk, executed a sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan, and added some nice depth at center and point guard. But perhaps most importantly, they appear to have knocked their 13th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft out of the park by selecting Devin Carter.

On his annual draft podcast, Thinking Basketball’s Ben Taylor had Ahmed Jama of Swish Theory as a guest to discuss the 2024 lottery prospects. And during the episode, Jama had some wonderful words to say about our own Carter. Here’s a portion of the segment (be sure to check out the full podcast):

“In terms of taking lessons from the (2024) Playoffs, the biggest winner across the board, I think a lot of basketball fans would agree that everyone came out of the Playoffs with a player like Derrick White or just a player who. A guard-sized player (who) can contribute in typical guard ways but also plug the holes on the (roster), and I think Devin Carter is absolutely a player who can do that. Like you said, (he’s) a very high-level defender (and) an extremely high-level athlete. I mentioned Reed Sheppard earlier in terms of cataloging his stats compared to other drafted players around his size, and the only player who was in that range and had a higher block percentage than (Sheppard) was Carter.”

– Ahmed Jama, Thinking Basketball Podcast

To be clear, Jame wasn’t directly comparing Carter to the current world champion. But to even be mentioned in the same conversation as Derrick White is a promising sign for Carter and Kings fans.

White is one of the best role players in the NBA. He is the epitome of a Swiss Army knife. He can shoot, attack closeouts, run the pick and roll, defend on the ball, defend off the ball, and provide some positional rim protection (something that is especially important for a team like the Kings).

If Carter can develop into a similar type of player for the Kings, it could significantly increase their chances of contending for a title in the years to come. Versatile players like White and Carter (and Keegan Murray) are exactly what you need to mask the weaknesses of offense-first stars like Domantas Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox and DeMar DeRozan.

Unfortunately, we likely won’t see much more of Carter in his first year, as it was announced in July that he would be out for approximately six months after undergoing surgery on a left shoulder injury.

If you want to learn more about Carter and other draft prospects, be sure to check out the work of Jama and the rest of the amazing cast at Swish Theory.