Ben Simmons Returns to the NBA with Sacramento Kings

Ben Simmons is back in the NBA.

The three-time All-Star has agreed a one-year deal with the Sacramento Kings worth $3.5 million (around $4.8 million AUD), according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, who reported the move on X on Friday night Australian time. It marks a return to the league for the former All-NBA guard after he sat out the entire 2025-26 season.

This is year 10 for Simmons. A career that once roared out of the blocks as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Rookie of the Year, multiple All-Star nods, and a place on an All-NBA team had stalled. Sacramento now offers him a way back in.

The Kings did not treat this as a flyer taken on reputation alone. Simmons flew into Sacramento on Monday for what amounted to a full inspection: extensive medical testing, an on-court workout, and face-to-face meetings with head coach Doug Christie and other key staff. In late August, he had already worked out for general manager Scott Perry and sat down with him for an hour-long meeting.

The feedback has been encouraging. Within the Kings organization and Team Australia — where Simmons joined a players-only minicamp last month — the word is that the 30-year-old looks strong and, crucially, feels strong.

His last NBA minutes came with the Los Angeles Clippers in early 2025. Since then, questions have followed him everywhere: about his health, his confidence, and whether his unique skill set still fits a league that keeps stretching the floor and speeding up the game.

Sacramento is betting that it does. A team that has chased a return to sustained relevance in the Western Conference now adds one of the most intriguing reclamation projects in recent memory, a 6-foot-10 playmaker whose best nights once bent games to his will.

The contract is short, the money modest by modern standards. The stakes for Simmons could not be higher.