Add everything up, and it's not crazy to see Carter as a Hall of Fame candidate. In fact, he thinks he deserves consideration. From Chris Tomasson for FoxSports.com (via SLAM):“Of course, that’s a goal,’’ Carter, a Daytona Beach native who returns to his home state Sunday to face the Orlando Magic, one of his former teams. “You hope [Carter’s career is] good enough. It would be a definite honor to go down into history with the greatest. I would love to be considered for the Hall of Fame … but I’m still trying to finish my career.’’ [...]
“That’s a tough call,’’ said Dallas center Chris Kaman. “I lean toward yes, but then again, you never know. … The cons are he never won a ring, but the pros are he had some great seasons where he really played well, went to All-Star Games, and with the amount of points he’s scored.’’
ProBasketballReference.com, which has a Hall of Fame monitor, lists Carter’s chances of being enshrined at 78.6 percent. But that’s down from 79.1 at the start of this month, and likely will continue to fall as Carter’s stats drop.
Using history as a gauge, Carter probably will make it to Springfield. He’s made eight NBA All-Star Games. The only eligible player to have that many selections without a Hall of Fame call is Larry Foust, a center who played from 1950 to 1962 and averaged 13.7 points and 9.8 rebounds.
I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen once his career is done and he's eligible. He's moving up the all-time scoring list, he's a multi-time All-Star, and despite the many valid criticisms we can make of his career, he was a significant player in the league for a while there. He probably shouldn't be in first ballot when the time comes, but he's probably done enough to deserve the nod at some point when it's all said and done.