$3.5 million, twelve months, no promises
Eighteen months without a competitive minute. That is the gap Ben Simmons is walking back into.
The Australian has agreed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Sacramento Kings, his agents told ESPN. He sat out the entire 2025-2026 season with the chronic back trouble that has shadowed him for years. His last appearance came in spring 2025, wearing a Clippers jersey.
Word had been encouraging for a few weeks. Multiple reports had him healthy, training without limits and shopping for a landing spot. He also has the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics with Australia circled.
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The body kept winning the argument
Philadelphia took him first overall in 2016 out of LSU. An injury wiped out his rookie year before it started. He came back to win Rookie of the Year in 2018, made three All-Star teams and landed on two All-Defensive squads.
Then 2019 happened, and nothing has been the same since. Simmons has not cleared 58 games in a season in six years. Across 383 NBA games, 344 as a starter, his line reads 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.5 steals, split between the Sixers, Nets and Clippers.
Sacramento is barely exposed here. At that number, the Kings get a playmaker who can run an offense and guard several spots, and they keep the cap sheet clean if it does not work.
Six weeks to look like an NBA player again
Preseason tips off October 5 at home against the Lakers. The games that count begin October 21, on the road at the Clippers, the team that last employed him.
That is the timeline. Simmons has to be ready, or he has to be patient, and the Kings have not said which one they expect.
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