Ben Simmons, the 30-year-old, three-time All-Star who sat out all of last season while recovering from his longstanding back issues, has agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Sacramento Kings.<\/p>\n
The deal, according to team sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced, marks the return of a player whose lengthy injury history and unfulfilled promise have long been a topic of discussion in the NBA. ESPN was first to report the deal.<\/p>\n
Simmons, the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, missed three full seasons for both physical and mental health reasons and was sidelined for more than half of his 10 years in the league (383 regular-season games played in all). He is expected to offer depth at point guard for the rebuilding Kings behind rookie Darius Acuff Jr.<\/p>\n
The Kings, who took Acuff at No. 7 out of Arkansas in the June draft, were reportedly interested in veterans such as Russell Westbrook (who opted to retire) and Victor Oladipo before opting for Simmons. And so the latest Simmons experiment begins \u2014 again. The Kings weren\u2019t the only team considering Simmons, as league sources say the Knicks and Warriors were also in the mix.<\/p>\n
As Men\u2019s Health magazine chronicled in a late June piece<\/a>, it has been a long road back for Simmons. He hasn\u2019t played since April 2025, when he finished the season with the LA Clippers after being bought out by the Brooklyn Nets and logged 51 games in all during that campaign. Deep-sea fishing had become his focus since then, with Simmons even investing in the South Florida Sails of the Sport Fishing Championship and becoming the team\u2019s controlling operator<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI needed to get away, and have some space, and just find myself again,\u201d Simmons told Men\u2019s Health.<\/p>\n Yet now, Simmons finds himself with a chance at NBA redemption. His unofficial return to the court came in mid-August, when he joined the Australian men\u2019s national team during a private and unofficial minicamp.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udea8 Ben Simmons in the lab \ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n (Via COURTSIDE Melbourne) pic.twitter.com\/zxin2HF28T<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The question now, as it has been so many times before in his controversial career, is whether the offseason highlights are a sign of things to come or a social media mirage.<\/p>\n