Apr 11, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Ben Simmons (25) during the third quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Former Knicks Target Continues Offseason Odyssey

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Sep 17, 2025 7:00 AM ET

The New York Knicks elected to remove their name from the Ben Simmons sweepstakes last week, turning to a variety of free agent guards in rounding out this upcoming season's rotation.

With their free agency already including a few veteran bench scorers in Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson, the Knicks look to close out this fall's bench by adding one of Landry Shamet, Malcolm Brogdon or another upstart contributor to the back end of Mike Brown's lineup.

They made a compelling case to add a former star in Simmons to the fold, standing out as the forward's best shot at returning to winning basketball. They were reportedly willing to bring him aboard as a back-end defender and passer, someone who'd compliment a front court room that's already full of plenty shooters and rim-protectors for Simmons to work off of.

Despite his and the Knicks failing to come to an agreement well after one of the offseason's final semi-desirable pieces was expected to make his decision, Simmons has no plans of calling it a career. He dispelled the rumors himself, taking to Instagram for a response to the chatter.

Ben Simmons is NOT retired

(h/t @CourtsideBuzzX) pic.twitter.com/SG0cC5aaCD
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) September 15, 2025

He insists that his NBA days aren't over, but his time to sign another contract is running out. Most NBA teams, like the Knicks, are now over their limit and now look forward to training camp to sort out their final rosters.

Simmons was offered the veteran's minimum, the lone contract that they could have extended to the backup big man, but he was looking for a larger deal. Unfortunately for him, few teams are willing to put their trust in a player who's suffered a particularly nasty fall-off through the 2020s, even if peak Simmons will continue enticing suitors.

Free Agent Forward Ben Simmons Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The once-perennial All-Star has only been in the NBA for eight seasons, but he's now spent just as many years disappointing teams with his debilitating injury history and passive approach to basketball as he did as as a Philadelphia 76ers franchise cornerstone.

Training camp is set to commence at the end of this month, where teams will spend the next two weeks trimming their rosters down to the 15-man units they're comfortable throwing out there for the next 82 games. There remain several restricted free agents and homeless nomads who'll attempt to earn a contract from one of the league's 30 teams right before the offseason concludes, and that's increasingly looking like Simmons' only remaining course of action.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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