2018 NBA free agency grades: Hawks pick up Vince Carter

The Atlanta Hawks continue to finds ways to add depth pieces that will help out their young core. But was Vince Carter a good choice to bring in?

Before there was Linsanity, there was Vinsanity; I suppose the Atlanta Hawks couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have both on the same team. Yes, Vince Carter is still playing in the NBA today, his 21st season in the league.

By agreeing to his contract with the Hawks, he joins Dirk Nowitzki (who just signed his next contract recently), Kevin Garnett, Robert Parish, Moses Malone and Kevin Willis as the only players to play 21 seasons in the NBA, the most any player has played in the league.

News broke from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski Wednesday evening that the Hawks are in line to become Vince Carter’s eighth team in his career and third team over the past three seasons. The two sides have agreed upon a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum of $2.4 million.

Once the news of the agreed upon deal broke, NBA Twitter was gold, as usual:

228 different players have played at least one game as a teammate of Vince Carter’s.

According to @EliasSports that is the 2nd-most for any player in NBA history, trailing only Juwan Howard with 236 pic.twitter.com/3dhuGpSCyD
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 25, 2018

Vince Carter is one of just 3 active players in the NBA to have played in the 1990s, along with Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry https://t.co/vP2H7INSdq
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 25, 2018

There were many complimentary tweets for Carter for not chasing a ring.

Vince Carter's last four stops have been Dallas, Memphis, Sacramento and Atlanta. No one can accuse him of ring chasing.
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) July 25, 2018

I have called every game @mrvincecarter15 played against the @ATLHawks over the years. Great to have him with our young guys.
— Steve Holman (@RealVoiceofHawk) July 26, 2018

But no one should expect much out of Vince Carter this season. He’s scored 8.0 points per game or less in each of the last four seasons. Last season with the Kings, his 5.4 points per game were the lowest in his career and he’s only played in more than 70 games once in the last four seasons; the 58 games he played in last season were the lowest he’s played in since 2002-03.

Carter has never been one to accumulate a lot of rebounds or assists either, with a career averages of 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. He hasn’t averaged more than four rebounds per game since 2012-13. And the last year he averaged over two assists per game? That would be 2013-14, with 2.6 assists per game.