Simmons signs 1-year, $3.5M deal with Kings — SkimNews
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- Ben Simmons agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Sacramento Kings on Friday, his agents Max Wiepking, Sean Tribe and Ryan Arney told Andscape and ESPN's Shams Charania.
- Simmons returns after missing the 2025-26 season rehabbing lingering back and leg injuries, having impressed GM Scott Perry in a Miami workout and an hourlong late-August meeting, followed by a Sacramento visit with an in-depth medical exam and on-court workout Monday.
- The Kings plan to use Simmons as a backup point guard behind rookie Darius Acuff Jr., playing positions 1 through 5 in what the source calls a high-upside reclamation project for a player with years left in his prime.
- Sacramento was the only NBA team to put a contract on the table; the Timberwolves and Warriors expressed interest that could have led to a training camp invite but never made an offer.
- Simmons — the No. 1 overall pick in 2016, 2018 Rookie of the Year, and three-time All-Star averaging 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.5 steals across 383 regular-season games — bought a 50% controlling stake in the South Florida Sails professional angling club in December 2025.
- The Kings went 22-60 last season, tying for the Western Conference's worst record, and created a guard vacancy by waiving DeMar DeRozan in July and not bringing back Russell Westbrook.
Why it matters: At $3.5 million, Sacramento fills a guard hole left by DeMar DeRozan's July waiver and Russell Westbrook's departure after a 22-60 finish, getting a healthy, 30-year-old former No. 1 overall pick with three All-Star nods on a low-risk one-year bet that other teams wouldn't even make a contract offer on.
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