Celtics Interested in Devin Carter After Hawks Waive Former Lottery Pick

Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported Friday afternoon that the Atlanta Hawks were waiving Devin Carter, and hours later reported that the Boston Celtics want to sign the guard once he clears waivers.

Carter never played a regular-season game for Atlanta. He arrived June 30 from the Sacramento Kings along with a 2033 second-round pick, with the Kings taking back the draft rights to Alpha Kaba and a trade exception.

Carter is owed a guaranteed salary of over $5.1 million this season, and Atlanta pays it if he goes unclaimed on waivers. A team that puts in a claim assumes the contract instead. The Hawks declined his fourth-year option, worth almost $7.4 million in 2027-28, as part of the move.

Seventeen players were on standard contracts going into the weekend. Sixteen are now, and the regular-season limit is 15. Mouhamed Gueye is the only Hawk left on a non-guaranteed deal at $2.4 million, and he is sidelined with a foot fracture.

Carter landed in a crowded backcourt when he arrived. CJ McCollum signed an extension this summer, Kingston Flemings came in at No. 8 in the June draft, and Ryan Nembhard arrived from the Dallas Mavericks in the Zaccharie Risacher trade. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels take guard minutes ahead of all of them. An NBA executive told Hawks Roundtable the team had a terrific offseason.

Sacramento took Carter 13th overall in 2024. Left shoulder surgery pushed his debut to January 2025, and ankle, back, and calf problems interrupted his second season.

Through two years with the Kings, he played 74 games and averaged 6.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 14.8 minutes. He is a 27.4% career 3-point shooter.

Last season brought 38 appearances, the most of his career. Carter averaged 8.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 18.4 minutes, shooting 26.3% from three.

Boston has 14 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals, so Carter would slot in at 15 without a corresponding cut. He also still holds two-way eligibility.

Derrick White and Payton Pritchard run the Celtics backcourt, and Mike Conley signed to come off the bench. Baylor Scheierman and Ron Harper Jr. handle the ball but do not play point guard.

Boston will introduce Paul George, Conley, and Mitchell Robinson at a press conference Tuesday. Celtics training camp opens Sept. 28.

Carter is 24. His father, Anthony Carter, played in the NBA and went to high school in DeKalb County.

Before the draft, Carter spent his freshman season at South Carolina and then transferred to Providence, where he was named Big East Player of the Year as a junior in 2023-24. He averaged 19.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 33 games that season.

The Hawks open the regular season Oct. 21 at Orlando, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. ET.