There is only one player on the Sacramento Kings’ roster invited to tryout for Team USA this summer, and it is not De’Aaron Fox.
After having three players on the USA Select Team ahead of the 2019 FIBA World Cup, the Sacramento Kings have just one player from their roster invited to be one of the finalists for the USA men’s basketball team and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. That player is not named De’Aaron Fox.
Fox was a notable omission from the list of 44 invitees that USA Basketball released on Monday morning. While it is unknown and doubtful if he would make the final 12-man roster, there are not many people who can name 44 better American players than Fox.
But the reason that the third-year point guard was left uninvited likely has little to do with any kind of on-court performance. Fox withdrew his name from last year’s tryouts for the 2019 FIBA World Cup just hours before the team was to board the plane for Australia, though the exact reasons were never made clear. There is likely a grudge being held by either head coach Greg Popovich or Team USA brass that is keeping Fox’s name off of the invite list.
There are a few other conspicuous omissions, most notably Trae Young who is currently the fourth-leading scorer in the NBA. While he too would struggle to make the final roster cut, it seems as though he would certainly command an invite over the likes of Joe Harris, Dwight Howard, or Mason Plumlee.
Perhaps the extra time over the summer will help Fox and Young in their preparations for next season, which is something that can be beneficial for a player that is hoping to make his first playoff appearance. There are players like Harrison Barnes who played for Team USA last summer and are starting to experience some serious fatigue as the NBA season comes down the homestretch.
Speaking of Harrison Barnes, he is the only Sacramento King to make the list of 44 invitees for this summer’s Olympic team.