Ben Simmons Signs with Sacramento Kings: A Second Chance in the NBA
Ben Simmons is back in the NBA. Not as a headline in a trade saga, not as a cautionary tale about wasted potential, but as the newest gamble for a Sacramento Kings team that believes it’s on the rise.
A source close to the team confirmed Simmons has signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal to fill the Kings’ final roster spot, a low-risk, high-intrigue move for a franchise trying to harden its identity. ESPN first reported the agreement.
For Simmons, this is not just another jersey. It’s a restart after a full year away from the league, a pause he used to rehab a body that has been in open revolt for most of his professional life.
From LSU prodigy to delayed debut
Before the injuries, before the noise, Simmons looked like the prototype for the modern point forward.
At LSU in 2015-16, he averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, two steals and nearly a block per game as a freshman. He rebounded like a big, passed like a guard and defended across the floor. Scouts saw a player who could touch every part of a game without needing to dominate the ball as a scorer.
Philadelphia made him the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the centerpiece of its rebuild. Then, in his first practice, he rolled his ankle. The damage turned out far worse than a routine sprain — a fracture in his right foot and ankle that never healed in time for him to play in 2016-17.
His rookie year vanished before it began.
Rising fast in Philadelphia
When he finally stepped onto an NBA court, Simmons wasted little time justifying the hype.
Because he never played during his first year, he remained eligible for Rookie of the Year in 2017-18 and won the award. He averaged 15.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.9 blocks, driving the 76ers into the playoffs. Philadelphia’s run ended in the second round in five games against the Boston Celtics, but Simmons’ all-around impact looked undeniable.
The ascent continued.
In 2018-19, Simmons earned his first All-Star nod. The 76ers pushed into another Eastern Conference semifinal, this time against the Toronto Raptors. That series ended on one of the most famous shots in league history — Kawhi Leonard’s bouncing, hanging, season-ending jumper in Game 7 — and left Philadelphia wondering how close it had come.
Simmons, though, kept stacking honors. His defensive instincts sharpened, his playmaking remained elite. In 2019-20 he made first-team All-Defense and returned to the All-Star Game, even as Boston again swept Philadelphia out of the first round.
The 2020-21 season might have been his peak as a two-way force. He earned another All-Star selection, another All-Defense first-team spot and finished as runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year. The 76ers secured the No. 1 seed and reached the Eastern Conference semifinals, this time against the Atlanta Hawks.
Then came the play that changed everything.
With Philadelphia trailing 88-86 in Game 7 and 3:30 left, Simmons caught the ball near the rim with a clear path to a dunk or layup. He passed it out. The Sixers never recovered, on the scoreboard or in the relationship between star and franchise. That single decision became a flashpoint, a symbol and, eventually, a breaking point.
Trade demand, injuries and a long slide
The fallout rolled into the summer.
Simmons asked for a trade in the 2021 offseason and held out, skipping training camp and preseason. He cited mental health struggles and never appeared in a game for Philadelphia that year. A back injury layered onto the situation, and the standoff dragged on until February 2022, when the 76ers traded him to the Brooklyn Nets.
His return to the court came in 2022-23, but in fragments. He played 43 games while battling knee issues and persistent back pain. The next year, 2023-24, the back problems worsened. He managed just 15 games before the pain forced him to shut it down and undergo surgery.
The Nets eventually moved on. Simmons played 33 games for Brooklyn before they waived him during the 2024-25 season. The Los Angeles Clippers offered a lifeline in February 2025, and he appeared in 18 games. His body never quite cooperated. The burst that once separated him from most forwards in the league flickered, then faded. At season’s end, he hit free agency again.
Then he stepped away.
Simmons did not play at all in 2025-26, choosing to fully rest and commit to rehab. No stat lines, no cameos, no late-season experiments. Just a year spent trying to rebuild a frame that had betrayed him too often.
Sacramento’s bet on size, defense and a second chance
Now, Sacramento is betting that the time off and the work behind the scenes have given Simmons a second life.
The Kings see him as an extra ball handler and defensive pillar on a roster already built around Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis and Darius Acuff Jr., the No. 7 pick in the 2026 draft. Simmons is expected to open the season as a backup point guard behind Acuff, with the flexibility to share the floor with the rookie as well, according to a source close to the team.
He will not walk into a cold locker room. Simmons and LaVine have known each other since they were young, and Sabonis entered the league in the same 2016 draft class as Simmons. The familiarity should help ease the transition into a team that has made its intentions clear.
General manager Scott Perry and head coach Doug Christie have repeatedly talked about building a rugged defensive identity. Simmons, at 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds, fits that vision on paper. The Kings believe his length and mobility still allow him to guard every position, turning them into a bigger, more switchable group. For a team trying to climb out of the West’s middle pack, that kind of versatility can tilt matchups.
The risk is obvious. So is the upside.
Sacramento is operating on the belief — and the hope — that Simmons’ chronic back and leg problems belong in his past. If they’re right, they might have found a uniquely skilled defender and playmaker at a bargain price.
If they’re wrong, the experiment ends after a year and a modest cap hit.
For Simmons, the equation is far more personal. The former No. 1 pick who once looked like the future of a franchise now fights to prove he still belongs in the league at all. The Kings have given him a stage.
What he does with it will shape the next chapter of a career that has already lived every extreme.
