How Ben Simmons Can Make A Big Impact On The Kings

The Sacramento Kings signed Ben Simmons to a one-year, $3.5 million deal after reportedly bringing him in for a workout. The Kings were also reportedly looking into Victor Oladipo, Cameron Payne, and Elfrid Payton after Russell Westbrook decided to retire.

Ultimately, Simmons’ size and defensive prowess seemed to sway Scott Perry and the Kings, and it’s easy to see why. Along with simply adding some attributes that the Kings don’t have a lot of, Simmons’ addition can make a world of difference for Sacramento’s seventh overall pick.

Just in: Three-time All-Star Ben Simmons has agreed on a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Sacramento Kings, his agents Max Wiepking, Sean Tribe and Ryan Arney tell me and @MarcJSpears. The one-time All-NBA star is back in the NBA for a 10th season after sitting out 2025-26. pic.twitter.com/xj5X7lr3op
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 4, 2026

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Darius Acuff Jr. was drafted to be the Kings’ point guard of the future, and they likely expect him to have the ball in his hands quite a bit. Acuff Jr. is a great on-ball player and showed it consistently at Arkansas. However, he may be just as impactful off the ball, and it may be an easier path to creating good offense while he gets accustomed to the NBA. The issue was that the Kings didn’t have many other options to take over ball-handling duties.

Enter Ben Simmons, who almost seems like he was made in a lab to play next to Acuff Jr. Simmons’ size and defensive ability will help cover for Acuff Jr’s issues on that end, while his passing and ball-handling will allow the rookie to relinquish some of the playmaking burden. The SEC Player of the Year should be fine in due time, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him struggle to create separation against NBA athletes.

i have enjoyed darius acuff's off-ball work this season, he's an excellent relcocator and he's willing to play decisively away from the ball. potent give-and-go player

should scale down pretty well at his peak, which gives me more confidence in his projection pic.twitter.com/gOFEtT7bj8
— Ben Pfeifer (@bjpf_) February 19, 2026

With Simmons running the show, Acuff Jr. can take advantage of his catch-and-shoot ability and get a running start with dribble handoffs to try and attack a defense in rotation. Simmons isn’t Draymond Green, but the Kings could use him similarly to how the Golden State Warriors have taken advantage of Green’s skill set.

Letting Acuff catch the ball on the run with Simmons as a screener and a lob target, using him as a safety net when Acuff Jr. is trapped, and creating open spot up opportunities are all ways that Simmons can make Acuff Jr’s life a whole lot easier on offense.

Lineup Challenges

Unfortunately, Simmons isn’t quite as clean a fit with Sacramento’s current center rotation. As a non-shooter, Simmons is at his best when he’s on the court with a big who can space the floor. The Kings have a really interesting center rotation with Domantas Sabonis, Max Raynaud, and Dylan Cardwell, but none of them are real threats to shoot from outside.

doug christie pulls out an iverson follow variation to create a movementish three for domantas sabonis, i like this pic.twitter.com/V7Xleexf22
— Ben Pfeifer (@bjpf_) January 12, 2025

Sabonis is a good career shooter percentage-wise, but the volume is quite low, and he’s never going to be defended like a real shooter. Raynaud has the ability to stretch the floor, but like Sabonis, he won’t be respected much until he shows he can consistently knock down open looks. Cardwell is the worst of the bunch, and the Kings will need to be really creative if they expect him and Simmons to share the court.

Simmons is a solid off-ball mover and will be able to play off of Sabonis when he’s operating in the high post or at the top of the key, but Sacramento will still need three shooters around those two at all times. Raynaud’s willingness to shoot from outside and ability to find open space in the dunker spot or in the middle of the lane likely make him the best fit with Simmons at the 5, and Ben’s defense will help cover for Max’s struggles on that end. I’d expect that pairing to share the court most often out of the three, and how successful they will be will start and end with the rest of the lineup’s ability to shoot.

The Forgotten Man

Acuff and Simmons’ synergy will be one of the main topics of the season, though there is another guard on the roster who will benefit from the Aussie’s presence. After helping the Kings back to the playoffs and solidifying himself as one of the best bench playmakers in the NBA, Malik Monk found himself with a much more limited role last season.

Doug Christie and the coaching staff didn’t seem to trust Monk as a backup point guard, and the lack of size and defense in the backcourt made it challenging to play him at the two. With Simmons in town, Monk has a backcourt partner that can calm some of those worries and let him do what he does best.

Malik Monk ‘24-25 - electric pic.twitter.com/K2BFqGhCJs
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) February 4, 2025

Monk is a solid playmaker and can initiate offense, but he’s at his best when he’s able to attack downhill with a head of steam or spacing the floor as a spot-up threat and second-side playmaker. Monk shot 70% in the restricted area last season and 45% on catch-and-shoot threes, and the Kings would be smart to use Simmons to take advantage of those parts of his game. Like Acuff, Monk can benefit from Simmons' playmaking and screening to help create easy offense rather than forcing the two guards to create all of their own shots against a defense loaded up on them.

The Vision

While I do think there could have been better, younger roster options who have been consistently playing competitive basketball, I do see the vision with Simmons. Having another ball-handler who is also 6’10” and a former All-Defense selection is exactly what this team needs to help Acuff Jr. have a successful transition into the NBA. This is a big IF, but Simmons could end up sticking around in Sacramento if everything goes well.

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