How Ben Simmons' Achilles Injury Impacts the Kings Off the Court

We are two days away from opening night, and the Sacramento Kings have already been bitten by the injury bug. Former first-overall pick and three-time NBA All-Star Ben Simmons tore his Achilles at practice on Sunday and is out for the season.

With the Kings navigating the Simmons injury, it feels like a good time to give an overview of the practical fallout and what the Kings will need to do from here.

An MRI confirmed a season-ending torn right Achilles tendon for Ben Simmons. A devastating turn of events on the eve of his NBA return after rehabilitating from back surgeries. https://t.co/fPjYPD0Kqa
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 18, 2026

Do the Kings Still Have to Pay Simmons?

Yes, the Kings still have to pay Simmons, and he will show up on their cap sheet. There were ways to limit their payment obligations, but they were long shots.

Exhibit 3 allows teams to add prior injury exclusions to contracts, limiting their obligation to pay the player if they re-aggravate or reinjure something they have already done in the past. It is my understanding that Simmons’ contract did not have any of this language. Surprising, considering his injury history, but probably not helpful here. An exclusion for Simmons’ back injuries would not cover the Achilles, which he has not previously injured.

Next, Exhibit 9 allows non-guaranteed contracts to be terminated before the regular season, with injury-limited compensation limited to $15K if a player is hurt during training camp and is waived before the regular season begins. These are essentially “summer contracts” that teams use for training camp players.

Ben Simmons shared a message via social media after an MRI confirmed he tore his Achilles and will miss the entire 2026-27 season.

(via @ShamsCharania) pic.twitter.com/aHxSDR55Su
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) October 19, 2026

Simply put, this was not on the table for Simmons. Sacramento had 13 players on standard contracts when they signed him, so they literally could not have included this in his contract. Teams must have 14 players (excluding two-ways) on contracts without Exhibit 9 language to be able to include it. Had Sacramento signed a 14th player before signing Simmons, they could have negotiated to include Exhibit 9 in Simmons’ contract, and he would have had to agree to its inclusion.

The Exhibit 9 protection goes away once the season starts, so this would lose all practical value if Simmons’ injury occurred on Wednesday. Even if it were included in Simmons’ contract, the Kings would have had a very narrow window to actually benefit from this. Regardless, it is almost poetic that this happens on the next-to-last day when planning for this would have actually benefited the team.

What is a DPE?

DPEs are a workaround where teams can get another salary cap exception if the league approves their application after losing a player to a season-ending injury. The team applies for this, and the league decides whether or not the exception is granted. This is done by hiring an NBA-designated physician who decides whether it is “substantially more likely than not” that the player will be out through June 15 of that league year. If the physician thinks the player will be back before then, the application is denied, and the team does not get the DPE.

If granted, the team has three ways to use it. They can sign a player to an amount that is the lesser of (1) half of the player’s salary or (2) the non-taxpayer Midlevel Exception. Alternatively, the team can use that DPE amount (plus $100K) to acquire a player via trade. They could also claim a player off waivers who is in the last year of his contract.

Teams can only use DPEs to sign or obtain players for the rest of the season (as opposed to signing a multi-year contract or acquiring a player via trade with multiple years on his contract). This makes sense – the league designed this exception to help teams that season, not necessarily as part of a long-term play.

How Do the Kings Get a DPE for Simmons?

The first variable is Simmons’ contract. Simmons’ veteran minimum counts as $2.449M against the cap, with $1M guaranteed on opening night (October 20), and the rest would become guaranteed on January 10. The NTMLE is just over $15M this year, so Simmons’ salary is what the DPE works from, meaning they would receive $1.22M if approved.

If Sacramento goes the free agent signing route, the $1.22M could sign a veteran to a prorated minimum contract to get them through the season beginning on January 15. Before then, the DPE is of limited practical value for signing a new player.

The Kings have until January 15 to apply for this DPE, so there is no pressing deadline on that front. Once approved, the team would have until March 10 to use it. Expect to see Sacramento apply for a DPE at some point, but do not expect it to be all that helpful, especially in the next couple of months.

So What is Next for the Kings?

The team is walking a semi-fine line in terms of roster limits. Sacramento does not have to waive Simmons if they do not want to. Keeping him would keep them at 14 players on standard contracts, the league minimum. They can rotate their two-way players in for depth as needed for the time being.

Ben Simmons is not expected to be waived by the Kings despite his season-ending Achilles injury, per @johnhollinger

“The reason is the salary continuation rule, which states that injured players on non-guaranteed contracts must continue to be paid until they are healthy again.… pic.twitter.com/YX9PIcMs9i
— NBABase (@TheNBABase) October 19, 2026

As mentioned earlier, $1M of Simmons’ salary becomes guaranteed on opening night. He has no more guaranteed salary until January. Sacramento could keep Simmons until then, waive him, and spend a few days with 13 players until they sign someone using their DPE once it covers the rest of the season on January 15.

Teams can only drop to 13 players for 14 consecutive days or 28 total days in a given season, so time will be of the essence if that is the route they choose. Regardless, it will be very interesting to see how Sacramento handles this situation as the new season begins.

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