Ben Simmons Returns to NBA with Sacramento Kings

Ben Simmons is back in the NBA. Not in theory, not in a workout video, not in a “monitoring his progress” update. On a roster. On a contract. On a team that believes there’s still something left to unlock.

The Sacramento Kings have signed the former No. 1 overall pick to a one-year, $3.5 million deal, filling their final open roster spot, a source close to the team confirmed. For a player who once looked like the future of the league and then nearly slipped out of it, the destination is as intriguing as the comeback attempt itself.

From LSU prodigy to sidelined No. 1 pick

Simmons arrived in the NBA with the weight of inevitability on his shoulders. At LSU in 2015-16, he didn’t just put up numbers; he controlled games. He averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, two steals and nearly a block as a freshman, a 6-foot-10 playmaker who could rebound, run, and read the floor like a point guard.

Philadelphia made it official on draft night in 2016, taking him No. 1 overall. The plan was clear: build around a jumbo creator who could do a bit of everything.

Then his first practice happened.

Simmons rolled his ankle, suffered a fracture in his right foot and ankle, and never saw the floor that rookie year. The injury didn’t heal in time. The debut of one of the most hyped prospects in years had to wait.

The rise: Rookie of the Year and an ascending star

When Simmons finally stepped on an NBA court in 2017-18, he justified the wait. He claimed Rookie of the Year honors, averaging 15.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.9 blocks. The 76ers surged into the playoffs and reached the second round before bowing out to the Boston Celtics in five games.

The league took notice. So did the voters.

In 2018-19, Simmons became an All-Star for the first time. Philadelphia pushed deeper into the postseason, only to have its season end in one of the most iconic shots in league history: Kawhi Leonard’s bouncing, hanging, dagger in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Raptors went on to win the title. The Sixers went home knowing they were close.

Simmons kept sharpening his edges. His offensive game remained built around passing, pace and pressure at the rim, but his defense started to define him. He earned first-team All-Defense honors and another All-Star nod in 2019-20, anchoring a Philadelphia team that still couldn’t solve Boston in the playoffs, this time getting swept in the first round.

In 2020-21, he climbed even higher. Another All-Star selection. Another first-team All-Defense. Runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year. A 6-foot-10 guard who could credibly defend all five positions, push the break, and organize the halfcourt.

Then came Atlanta. Then came the play.

The turning point: one pass, a career altered

Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals. Philadelphia trailing the Hawks 88-86 with just over three minutes left. Simmons spun past his defender and rose toward what looked like an easy dunk or layup.

He passed.

The ball went to a teammate, the moment evaporated, and the reaction was immediate and unforgiving. That single decision — in a series where his offensive hesitation had already become a talking point — became a symbol. Fair or not, it followed him everywhere.

The noise didn’t quiet down. It grew. And it wasn’t just about missed shots anymore.

Physical and mental toll

That summer, Simmons asked for a trade. He stayed away from training camp and preseason, citing mental health struggles. His relationship with Philadelphia frayed. The holdout dragged on.

He never played a game for the Sixers in 2021-22. A back injury compounded his absence, alongside the mental health challenges that stemmed from the prior postseason storm and the trade standoff. In February 2022, Philadelphia finally moved him to the Brooklyn Nets.

The fresh start never fully materialized.

In 2022-23, Simmons appeared in only 43 games as knee issues and lingering back problems cut into his availability and his explosiveness. The next season, 2023-24, the back flared up again. He played just 15 games before being shut down and eventually undergoing surgery.

By 2024-25, his time in Brooklyn was running out. He played 33 games with the Nets before they waived him. The Los Angeles Clippers took a flier in February 2025, but he managed only 18 appearances, again limited by his body and his diminished mobility. When that season ended, he entered free agency with more questions than answers.

Then he disappeared from the league altogether.

A year away, a bet on a different kind of comeback

Simmons didn’t play a single NBA game in 2025-26. He stepped away to rest and rehabilitate, devoting the year to his body and, by extension, his career. No late-season cameo. No overseas detour. Just a long, quiet attempt to get right.

Now he returns with the Kings convinced there’s still value in what he brings.

Sacramento sees him as more than a reclamation project. On a roster headlined by Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis and 2026 No. 7 overall pick Darius Acuff Jr., Simmons slots in as an extra ball handler and a defensive pillar, if his body holds.

He’s not walking into a locker room of strangers, either. He and LaVine go back to their younger days. Sabonis and Simmons entered the league together in that 2016 draft class, their careers taking wildly different paths but intersecting again a decade later in California’s capital.

The Kings’ gamble: size, defense and a second life

The Kings envision Simmons 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. That opens up lineups where a 6-foot-10, 240-pound playmaker can initiate offense, post smaller guards, or simply act as a connective piece between LaVine’s scoring and Sabonis’ interior hub.

Sacramento’s leadership has made its intentions clear. General manager Scott Perry and head coach Doug Christie have repeatedly talked about building a team that defends with an edge, that leans into physicality instead of shying away from it. Simmons fits that blueprint on paper.

His frame alone changes the look of their perimeter defense. At his peak, he guarded point guards one night and power forwards the next, swallowing up pick-and-rolls and switching across the floor. The Kings believe he can still bring enough of that versatility to make them bigger, longer and more disruptive.

There is risk. His back has betrayed him multiple times. His confidence has been tested in public, under playoff lights and social-media microscopes. The Kings know all of that.

They’re signing him anyway.

Because if the injuries truly are behind him, if the year away has rebuilt more than just muscle and cartilage, then Sacramento hasn’t just filled the last spot on its roster.

It may have given one of the league’s most complicated careers a final, fascinating chapter.