Sacramento Kings Use Day 3 Of Training Camp To Learn About New NBA Rule

Sep 29, 2022, 1:26 PM | Updated: 2:10 pm

Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox speaking to the media after practice....

(Sactown Sports)

Sacramento Kings Beat Writer

Day three of Sacramento Kings training camp has come and gone.

In just four days, the Kings will travel down south to Los Angeles to play its preseason opener against LeBron James and the Lakers.

Here are some notes from Thursday’s practice:

School Is In Session

During Thursday’s practice, all players and coaches sat down to view an informative video from the NBA that explains the new ‘transition take foul’ rule that will be going into effect this season.

This new rule could have heavy implications for players that use their speed to get out on the break like De’Aaron Fox, who could greatly benefit by drawing foul calls in transition.

School is in session today at Sacramento Kings training camp.

The players and staff are watching a video from the league that goes over the new transition take foul rule. pic.twitter.com/OyKN0SrT6V

— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) September 29, 2022

According to Tim Reynolds of US News, the take foul–in which the defender does not make a play on the ball–is what the league classifies as one that occurs either “during a transition scoring opportunity or immediately following a change of possession and before the offensive team had the opportunity to advance the ball.” The exception is in the final 2 minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.

The new penalty for such a foul is one free throw, which may be attempted by any player on the offended team in the game at the time the foul was committed, along with continued possession. This means that if Fox–a 72 percent career shooter from the free throw line–draws a take foul, the Kings can send any player that is currently on the floor to the line.

Harrison Barnes (80%), Kevin Huerter (79%), or Malik Monk (83%) could tap in for Fox and take the penalty shot if they are on the floor.

“This exception will allow the defensive team to use the longstanding tactic of taking a foul to stop the clock during an attempted comeback or prevent the opposing team from potentially tying the game with a three-pointer,” the NBA explained in a statement that was released in July following the announcement of the new rule.

It will be very interesting to see how this new rule changes the flow of NBA games, but if one thing is certain, it’s that players like Fox will greatly benefit from this new addition to the NBA rulebook.

Kevin Huerter’s height surprised De’Aaron Fox

Fox isn’t alone on this one. When you watch Kevin Huerter play basketball on TV or from a distance, you don’t really get the true idea of just how big he is.

“He’s 6’7, 6’8. I had no idea he was that big. He can do a lot of different things on the court.” – De’Aaron Fox on new Kings guard Kevin Huerter

— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) September 29, 2022

When Huerter walked over to meet the media for the first time on Monday, his height was surprising to see in person. Back in July when he was acquired in a trade from the Atlanta Hawks, the 24-year-old said that he felt comfortable guarding positions one through four.

After seeing Huerter’s 6’7 frame up close, it makes a lot more sense why would say that he could guard players that posses a similar height. There is a strong possibility that Huerter is in line to be Sacramento’s opening night starter at the shooting guard spot, but don’t be surprised if head coach Mike Brown gets creative with his lineup and slides ‘Red Velvet’ down to the three-spot from time to time.

The connection between ‘Fox and the Ox’ continues to grow’

If the Sacramento Kings are going to be successful in 2022-23, the new duo of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis will be at the forefront of the team’s progress.

During practice on Thursday, both Fox and Sabonis talked about their potential as teammates after playing in just 13 games together in 2021-22.

“He’s a willing passer. He wants to get you open. It’s easy to play with a guy like that.” – De’Aaron Fox on playing with Domantas Sabonis

— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) September 29, 2022

“Coach (Brown) really wants us to play off the ball in general, and if Fox and I can develop our two-man game doing that, it’s going to be even harder to stop,” Sabonis said when asked about playing off ball in Sacramento’s offense. “When it’s just pick-and-roll, eventually it get’s easier to defend after a period of time, but if we can develop an off-ball game, it’s going to be tough to stop.”