SACRAMENTO — Ben Simmons has agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Sacramento Kings, his agents told ESPN’s Shams Charania and Marc J. Spears on Friday morning.
The agreement is a minimum-salary deal. Simmons has nine years of NBA service, which sets his veteran minimum at $3,524,115 for 2026-27, and Sacramento will carry a cap hit of $2,449,421 on the contract. Whether the salary is guaranteed has not been reported.
Sacramento had been working through a list of veteran point guards for several weeks. In late August, Simmons worked out for Kings general manager Scott Perry and met with him for roughly an hour. He flew to Sacramento on Monday for a second workout, met with Kings coach Doug Christie and other members of the staff, and underwent what Charania described as “in-depth” medical examinations.
Ben Simmons Career Production And Injury History
The Philadelphia 76ers took Simmons with the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. A foot injury cost him the entire 2016-17 season. He won Rookie of the Year the following season and made the All-Star team in each of the next three years. He finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2020 and second in 2021, and he made the All-Defensive first team in both of those seasons. He was named to the All-NBA third team in 2020 and led the league in steals that season at 2.1 per game.
Simmons did not play in 2021-22 while he sought a trade out of Philadelphia and dealt with a back injury. Philadelphia sent him to the Brooklyn Nets in the deal for James Harden. He had back surgeries in May 2022 and in March 2024, and he appeared in 90 games for Brooklyn across parts of four seasons.
Brooklyn waived Simmons after the 2025 trade deadline. He finished that season with the Los Angeles Clippers, averaging 2.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 18 games. He did not play at all in 2025-26 and spent that time away from the floor working to get healthy. Reporting in August indicated he appeared to be injury-free and had recovered his previous athleticism.
Across 383 regular season games, Simmons has averaged 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1.5 steals. He has 33 career triple-doubles. He is a career 55.8% shooter from the field, 13.9% from three on 5-of-36, and 59.2% at the free-throw line.
Sacramento Kings Point Guard Depth And Payroll
Sacramento used the seventh overall pick in the 2026 draft on Darius Acuff Jr., who is expected to open 2026-27 as the starting point guard. The Kings also selected Meleek Thomas 34th overall and Emanuel Sharp 45th overall out of that same class. Hoops Rumors reported last month that the club was looking for a veteran backup who could mentor the rookie, and that Victor Oladipo, Cameron Payne, Gabe Vincent, Elfrid Payton, and Russell Westbrook, before his retirement, were among the free agents linked to Sacramento.
If the contract is a standard deal rather than an Exhibit 9 training camp agreement, adding Simmons puts the Kings roughly $2.9 million under the luxury tax line with 14 players signed. Sacramento would still have room to add a 15th player without crossing into the tax.
League sources told Sam Amick of The Athletic that the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors were among the other teams with some level of interest in Simmons.
