September 8: Simmons has officially signed with the Kings, trans NBA.com Transaction Log.
September 4: Former #1 overall pick Ben Simmons reached an agreement to sign with The necklaces– say his agents Shams Charanyi and Mark J. to ESPN’s Spears (Link to Twitter).
According to Charanya and Spears, Simmons will sign a one-year contract worth $3.5 million. It’s a minimum-salary deal for the 30-year-old, who has nine years of NBA service and is eligible for the veteran’s minimum amounting to $3,524,115while the Kings will receive a cap hit of $2,449,421. It is not yet clear whether this salary will be fully guaranteed.
Simmons has had an up-and-down NBA career that began when he missed the entire 2016/17 season with a foot injury. He was named the Sixers’ Rookie of the Year a year later and went on to earn All-Star berths in each of the next three seasons. He also finished in the top four in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2020 and 2021 and was named to the All-Defensive First Team in each of those two seasons.
However, Simmons did not play at all in the 2021/2022 season as he sought a trade from Philadelphia and had a back injury. The 6’10” guard/forward was eventually sent to Brooklyn in a trade for James Hardenbut problems with the past continued to haunt him as a Network. He underwent surgeries in May 2022 and March 2024 and ended up appearing in just 90 games for Brooklyn over two full seasons and two additional half-seasons.
The Nets opted out of 2025, and Simmons finished that season with the Clippers, but he didn’t play at all in 2025-26, spending some time on the sidelines and working to get fully healthy. He recently proposed that he was on the way back and looking for a new NBA opportunity, with reports around that time which indicates that he does not seem to be hurt and has regained his former sportsmanship.
Simmons, who has career averages of 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game in 383 regular-season games, was a dynamic playmaker and elite defender in his prime, but his poor jump shot limited his ceiling and created space issues in some lineups.
Still, the Kings viewed Simmons as a worthwhile gamble after weighing a series of point guard options this offseason. According to Charania (Link to Twitter), Simmons became CEO Scott Perry and met with him for an hour in late August, then headed to Sacramento this Monday to work out for the team again. During this visit, he met with the head coach Doug Christie and other employees and underwent an “in-depth” medical examination.
The Kings used the seventh overall pick in this year’s draft Darius Acuff Jrwho is expected to become the club’s main playmaker in the 2026/27 season. However, the club was said he was looking a veteran backup who could help novice teachers. Viktor Oladipa, Cameron Payne, Gabe Vincent, Elfrid Peytonand Russell Westbrook (before retirement) were among in another free agents connected in Sacramento.
Assume that Simmons signs a standard contract rather than a contract Exhibition 9 training camp agreement, adding him to the roster would put the Kings within about $2.9 million of the luxury tax with 14 players under contract. The team will still have room to add a 15th man without resorting to the tax.
This was reported by sources in the League Sam Amick of The Athletic what Nix and Warriors were among other teams interested in Simmons.