Kings, Ben Simmons Agree To One-Year Deal

According to Charania and Spears, Simmons will be signing a one-year, $3.5MM contract. That’s a minimum-salary deal for the 30-year-old, who has nine years of NBA service and qualifies for a veteran minimum worth $3,524,115, while the Kings will carry a cap hit of $2,449,421. It’s unclear whether or not that salary will be guaranteed.

Simmons has had an up-and-down NBA career that began when he missed the entire 2016/17 season due to a foot injury. He was named Rookie of the Year with the Sixers a year later, then earned All-Star berths in each of his next three seasons. He also finished among the top four in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2020 and 2021 and made the All-Defensive first team in each of those two seasons.

However, Simmons didn’t play at all in 2021/22 as he sought a trade out of Philadelphia and dealt with a back injury. The 6’10” guard/forward was eventually sent to Brooklyn as part of a deal for James Harden, but the back issues continued to plague him as a Net. He underwent surgeries in May 2022 and March 2024 and ultimately appeared in just 90 games for Brooklyn over the course of two full seasons and two additional half seasons.

Simmons was waived by the Nets after the 2025 trade deadline and finished that season with the Clippers, but he didn’t play at all during the 2025/26 season, spending some time away from the court and making an effort to get fully healthy. He recently suggested that he was on the comeback trail and was seeking a new NBA opportunity, with reporting around that time indicating that he appears to be injury-free and has recaptured his previous athleticism.

Simmons, who holds career averages of 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game in 383 regular season outings, was a dynamic play-maker and elite defender in his prime, but his poor jump shot limited his ceiling and created floor-spacing problems in certain lineups.

Still, the Kings viewed Simmons as a worthwhile gamble after weighing a series of point guard options this offseason. According to Charania (Twitter link), Simmons worked out for general manager Scott Perry and met with him for an hour in late August, then traveled to Sacramento this Monday to work out for the team again. During that visit, he met with head coach Doug Christie and other staff members and underwent “in-depth” medical examinations.

The Kings used the seventh overall pick in this year’s draft on Darius Acuff Jr., who is expected to be the club’s starting point guard in 2026/27. However, the club was said to be seeking a veteran point guard who serve as a backup and mentor the rookie. Victor Oladipo, Cameron Payne, Gabe Vincent, Elfrid Payton, and Russell Westbrook (prior to his retirement) were among the other free agents linked to Sacramento.

Assuming Simmons is signing a standard contract and not an Exhibit 9 training camp deal, adding him to the roster will move the Kings to within about $2.9MM of the luxury tax line with 14 players under contract. The team would still have room to add a 15th man without going into the tax.

League sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that the Knicks and Warriors were among the other teams with some level of interest in Simmons.