Ben Simmons is returning to the NBA and the Sacramento Kings, but this time he is not coming back as the highly touted prospect who was once expected to change the future of a franchise.
He is returning as a 30-year-old player who, perhaps for the last time, is being asked to prove that he still has a place in the best league in the world. The one-year, $3.5 million deal with Sacramento is the opportunity he has been waiting for. At the same time, it is a very clear test. Simmons now has a season ahead of him to show that the qualities that once made him one of the most unique players of his generation have not disappeared for good.
His NBA story is one of those that leaves you wondering what might have been. The No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Rookie of the Year, a three-time All-Star, an All-NBA selection and a two-time All-Defensive selection. A 6-foot-10 player with outstanding court vision, playmaking ability, speed and the versatility to defend everyone from guards to big men. And yet, his career took a very different turn.
Back problems and injuries that kept him sidelined for extended periods never allowed him to regain any real consistency. He spent the entire 2025-26 season without making an appearance, focusing on his rehabilitation. The last time he stepped onto an NBA court was in April 2025, with the Clippers. Even before that absence, however, his on-court profile had changed dramatically. In his final season, he averaged 5 points, 5.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds in 51 games, numbers a long way from the All-Star player he had established himself as during the early years of his career.
The Kings, then, are not buying into the dream of the old Simmons. They are betting on the possibility that the player he is today can still give them something useful. Sacramento needed an experienced ball-handler behind rookie Darius Acuff Jr., as well as a player who can provide playmaking, size and defense without needing the ball in his hands all the time.
For Simmons, that can be both a disadvantage and an advantage: he no longer needs to prove that he can be the franchise player everyone expected him to become a decade ago. He needs to prove that he can once again be a useful NBA player. That looks like the most realistic path for him to earn his place back.
Simmons does not need to become an All-Star again. He does not need to return to the career averages of 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.2 assists. He needs to stay healthy, play consistently, remind everyone that he can impact a game without scoring and prove that his body can now withstand the demands of an NBA season.
This time, after all, there is no excuse of age, nor can he point to a lack of opportunities. There is a one-year contract, a team giving him the chance to return to the NBA and a 30-year-old player standing at the most critical crossroads of his career. Ben Simmons has already shown that he can play in the NBA. Now, he has to show that he can stay there.