It’s not often you find a player three seasons removed from a lottery selection on an Exhibit 10 deal, yet on Monday morning, the Celtics found someone in that exact situation in Providence product Devin Carter.
It hasn’t been easy sledding for Carter entering his third NBA season, but he couldn’t have found himself in a better situation.
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Everyone loves a redemption story. A discarded lottery pick quietly attached to a second-round pick seven years from now and dumped soon after by the second team is an intriguing setup. The thing is, despite having trouble getting his career off the ground, Carter has never really looked like a traditional bust.
The Kings — for all their bad contracts and bizarre roster choices compounded by a poor track record of draft hits — didn’t give Carter all that much opportunity across his two seasons. For a lottery pick, there never seemed to be a clear vision of where he fit into the SacTown circus.
His jumper has yet to translate like his 38% 3-point shooting indicated as a junior, and he can be erratic with the ball in a way that wasn’t as prevalent in his college days, but in 74 career NBA games, 25 of which he played 20 or more minutes, Carter has 11 multi-steal appearances and four with 20+ points. Those four games of 20 or more points all came with efficiency above 50% (he was a combined 60% FG in those four contests).
Those are real flashes. For Boston, that’s all you need to see to offer an Exhibit 10.
In particular, we’ve seen the defensive flashes that played a major role in his lottery selection.
Boston is not lacking for defensive hounds. Far from it, in fact. This is the rich getting richer, while adding to the one position that was in need of an extra depth piece.
Even before this move, Boston’s perimeter defense looked like one of its greatest strengths on paper. Derrick White is coming off his third All-Defensive Team honor. Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez and Baylor Scheierman more than held their own in a full-season sample, while Ron Harper Jr. flashed exciting potential in his brief time in Boston. And that doesn’t factor in a full season for Jayson Tatum, a true jack of all trades defensively, and the addition of Paul George and two-way rookie Dillon Mitchell.
At guard and on the wings, they have options everywhere. Carter, if he can take advantage of this move with either a two-way contract or standard deal, only adds fuel to the fire.
Carter ideally fits the archetype of a ballhandling lead guard, with legitimate slashing burst and a pick-and-roll acumen, but it’s unclear where those chances will come in the short-term. White, Tatum, and Payton Pritchard will lead multiple units bringing the ball up the floor, and the addition of Mike Conley adds another steady hand.
Just the idea of Carter being an understudy to Derrick White should fire up the synapses. That might be the absolute perfect guard for him to take notes from.
Garbage time or a G League setting would be where we’d really see Carter develop as a point guard, but that doesn’t have to be the sole reason to give Carter time on the floor for Boston. In his brief time in the NBA, he’s proven to be an impactful rebounding guard and a pickpocketing, lane closing menace. It’s in these two areas where Carter would get his opportunity. His offense, for all the potential it could bring, is likely the side of the floor that’d require the most patience from a developmental standpoint.
Good thing he’s in Boston, where his shooting development can become a priority, while an avenue to minutes still remains a possibility. We saw it all last year, Joe Mazzulla is hardly afraid of rotational experimentation or the chance to throw out a new starting five on a given night. If you can defend, rebound or hit open shots, you have a chance to see the floor.
For his long-term outlook, the clearest template to follow would be that of Davion Mitchell, who survived his own ordeal as a Sacramento lottery pick, found an opportunity to run offense on a middling Raptors team, and rediscovered his identity as a defensive menace and capable shooter with the Heat, who he started 70 games with last season.
With an already deep group of guys currently under contract, I don’t want to put too much expectation on Carter immediately carving out a significant role. That feels unfair for anyone entering a season on an Exhibit 10. Chances are, he’ll find himself on a two-way contract to start the season, with a standard deal offered later near the trade deadline.
But this is a 24-year-old, lottery-level talent we’re talking about. Someone who was rightfully considered a top talent out of a good draft class, a player the Celtics can afford to be patient with that has considerable skill already built in.
To happen upon that without sacrificing any draft assets or players makes it the exact type of move that, if successful, looks utterly ridiculous in hindsight.
“How did the league let him be a Celtic?”
Don’t be afraid to get excited about the future possibilities of Carter in green. This could be a perfect marriage between a player looking for a clear path forward and a team that would embolden the things he does well and offer patience in the areas that need work.
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