SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ben Simmons spent all of last season away from the NBA. One strong exhibition night later, the former No. 1 overall pick has people talking about a revival in Sacramento.
Simmons got the start in the Kings' preseason finale at San Antonio on Friday and filled the box score in 26 minutes: 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, a perfect 4-for-4 at the line, eight rebounds, seven assists and a steal. The night ended in a 126-97 Spurs rout, but the performance stood out more than the result.
Retired center Dwight Howard took to social media afterward to predict Simmons would author the greatest comeback in league history. That is a big claim for a player who managed only 35 minutes across two exhibition games, finishing with 21 points plus eight boards and eight assists overall. His other outing was a nine-minute stint as a reserve that produced seven points.
The 30-year-old signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Kings in September. Recurring back trouble had shrunk his role to spot minutes with Brooklyn and the Los Angeles Clippers before he stepped away for a year to reset physically and mentally.
Sacramento went 0-5 in the preseason and is not widely projected as a playoff team, which leaves room for Simmons to earn minutes. Projections have him backing up Darius Acuff at point guard, and a solid year could put him in line for a longer deal.
His track record gives the optimism some footing. Across 383 regular-season games with Philadelphia, Brooklyn and the Clippers, Simmons carries career marks of 7.2 assists, 13.1 points, 1.5 steals and 7.4 rebounds per game. The Kings open their season Thursday against the Clippers, and Simmons has said he hopes to play for Australia at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
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