Ben Simmons Signs with Sacramento Kings for Comeback

Ben Simmons is back in the NBA. And he’s heading to Sacramento.

The former No. 1 overall pick has agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Kings, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Marc Spears, ending a year-long absence after he sat out the entire 2025-26 season.

This comeback didn’t happen on a whim. Charania reported that Simmons flew into Sacramento on Monday for a full-scale audition: detailed medical testing, an on-court workout, and sit-down meetings with head coach Doug Christie and members of the staff. In late August, he had already worked out for general manager Scott Perry and spent an hour in conversation with him, a clear signal both sides were willing to explore more than a courtesy look.

For a time in Philadelphia, Simmons looked like a franchise cornerstone. The 2016 No. 1 pick stormed into the league with size, vision and defensive versatility that made him an All-Star and an All-Defensive force. Then the injuries began to stack up. Since the 2020-21 campaign, he hasn’t topped 60 games in a season and lost the entire 2021-22 year.

His last action came in 2024-25, split between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers. He appeared in 51 games, his heaviest workload since that 2020-21 season, averaging 5.0 points, 5.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds. The stat line underscored the shift in his role: less centerpiece, more connector.

After that, nothing. No contract for 2025-26. No late-season flyer. Simmons chose to shut it down and rebuild himself.

In December, he told The Athletic’s Sam Jane he refused to return until he felt “bulletproof.” By June, the tone had changed. He was officially chasing an NBA comeback, openly naming Miami and Philadelphia as possible destinations.

“I plan on getting as strong as I can physically, getting my ass on the court, and then the team realizing that my abilities will be needed,” he told Clay Skipper of Men’s Health. “I don’t have a plan on where. ... Maybe I’ll go back to Philly. Miami would be nice. And not because it’s Miami—I like Erik Spoelstra, I like the Heat, I like their organization, I like the culture.”

Miami never came. Philadelphia didn’t circle back. Sacramento did.

For the Kings, this is a basketball decision wrapped in opportunity. They’re not signing the three-time All-Star version of Simmons who once pushed the pace and dictated games in Philadelphia. They’re signing a 28-year-old whose body has been through years of strain, whose offensive role has shrunk, but whose feel for the game and defensive size still translate.

Sacramento’s need is obvious. Since trading De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs, the Kings have been light on true floor generals. Rookie Darius Acuff Jr. brings promise but not experience. The backcourt has lacked a steady hand who can organize, defend multiple positions and take pressure off a young guard trying to learn the league on the fly.

Simmons steps directly into that void.

The Kings won’t ask him to be a scorer. They’ll ask him to see the floor, hit the open man, initiate sets, switch defensively and give them a different look as a big ball-handler. At $3.5 million for one year, he’s a low-risk, potentially high-value piece who can slide across positions and lineups.

His days as a headlining star may be gone. But on a roster searching for balance and structure, Simmons offers something Sacramento has badly missed since Fox’s departure: a conductor.

Whether that’s enough to move the Kings into true contention is another matter. What this move does, unmistakably, is give them a more complete roster and hand Simmons one more chance to prove his game still belongs at the center of an NBA floor, not on the fringes of it.