{"id":928456,"date":"2026-10-11T01:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T01:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/928456\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T01:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T01:54:10","slug":"kings-get-much-needed-update-on-ben-simmons-status-for-warriors-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/928456\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings Get Much-Needed Update on Ben Simmons&#8217; Status for Warriors Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"9r\">The NBA world will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/kings\/onsi\/three-kings-players-to-watch-for-in-preseason-warriors-matchup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">have its eyes on the Sacramento Kings<\/a> on Saturday night. Sure, it helps that they are facing off against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, but more notably, Ben Simmons is finally making his unofficial Kings debut.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"9w\">After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/kings\/onsi\/is-ben-simmons-playing-in-kings-vs-lakers-when-to-expect-his-preseason-debut\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">missing the Kings&#8217; first two preseason games<\/a>, each a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, Simmons has been removed from Sacramento&#8217;s availability report for Saturday&#8217;s matchup in Golden State, meaning he is ready to suit up. This is a highly anticipated debut, not only for the Kings, but for any NBA fan eager to see how the former first-overall pick performs after a year-long hiatus. <\/p>\n<p>Ben Simmons is good to go<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It appears that Ben Simmons and Keegan Murray are set to make their preseason debut this evening:<\/p>\n<p>From Kings:<\/p>\n<p>AVAILABILITY vs. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS 10\/10<\/p>\n<p>Domantas Sabonis: OUT<\/p>\n<p>Malik Monk: OUT<\/p>\n<p>Dylan Cardwell: OUT<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 James Ham (@James_HamNBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/James_HamNBA\/status\/2109055094687965379?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"ab\">Unfortunately, the Kings will still not be at full strength against the Warriors, with Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk, and Dylan Cardwell ruled out, but having Simmons and Keegan Murray ready to make their preseason debuts is exciting.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"ag\">There has been plenty of talk about Simmons this offseason, with optimism that he is back to being the All-Star-caliber player he once was. After a few down years with the Brooklyn Nets and L.A. Clippers, Simmons could be ready to revive his career in Sacramento, but we still need to keep our expectations realistic. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"al\">At his best, Simmons could be the two-way weapon the Kings have been begging for. He has the tools to be one of the league&#8217;s most versatile defenders, as he was when he was the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2020-21, while also being a high-level playmaker with the ball in his hands.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"aq\">However, after sitting out the entire 2025-26 season, there is plenty of uncertainty. At media day, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/kings\/onsi\/ben-simmons-says-exactly-what-kings-fans-wanted-to-hear-at-media-day\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Simmons assured that he is healthy<\/a> and ready to &#8220;dominate,&#8221; feeling more like the three-time All-Star he once was. On Saturday night against the Warriors, we will finally see if he was being truthful or just optimistic.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ben Simmons is one of the last Kings players in the gym after practice today. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0NEdi1H0lo\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/0NEdi1H0lo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kevin John (@heykevinjohn) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/heykevinjohn\/status\/2107919596556857638?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 7, 2026<\/a>Keegan Murray&#8217;s preseason debut<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"b5\">Of course, the headline is Simmons gearing up to touch an NBA court for the first time since April 2025, but for the Kings, they care just as much about Keegan Murray finally suiting up. Like Simmons, Murray missed both of the Kings&#8217; first two preseason games, but he is available for Saturday&#8217;s contest.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"ba\">Last season, Murray played just 23 games, with injuries getting the best of him in his fourth year in the NBA. Now, his five-year, $140 million contract is kicking in, and the Kings need him to step up more than ever. <\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">11-STRAIGHT THREES \ud83d\udcb0<\/p>\n<p>WHAT AN INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE FOR KEEGAN MURRAY \ud83d\udc4f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xf3yRt6Ges\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/xf3yRt6Ges<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ESPNNBA\/status\/1736256338844422284?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">December 17, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"bk\">If he can stay healthy and find his rhythm offensively, Murray should be in for the best season of his career. He has improved tremendously as a defender, and with his on-ball skills showing some promise, he is just offensive consistency away from being a premier all-around talent.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"bp\">The Kings should be excited to see what they can get from guys like Simmons, Murray, Darius Acuff Jr., and Maxime Raynaud all on the floor together, so look for Doug Christie to experiment with some lineups. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"bu\">The Kings and Warriors are set to face off on Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. PT in San Francisco. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"bz\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/InsideTheKings\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Follow us on Facebook<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KingsOn_SI\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0and X for the latest Sacramento Kings news.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" preventdefault:click=\"\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\" on:click=\"q-DqWrLptv.js#s_lDqay9E5m5g[0]\" q:id=\"c5\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NBA world will have its eyes on the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night. Sure, it helps that&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":928457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-928456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=928456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/928457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=928456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=928456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=928456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}