Kings HC Explains Unexpected Decision to Sit Ben Simmons vs. Blazers

After Tuesday night's loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, the Sacramento Kings have started their 2026 preseason with four consecutive losses. In their defense, though, they have yet to be at full strength for any of these exhibition games.

On Tuesday, the fans in Golden 1 Center were hoping to see a Kings team at least near full strength, but they were disappointed when Sacramento ruled out a long list of key players: Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk, Dylan Cardwell, Maxime Raynaud, Darius Acuff Jr., De'Andre Hunter, and most notably, Ben Simmons.

Simmons was expected to make his home debut on Tuesday night, but was unexpectedly ruled out. When asked why the Kings decided to sit Simmons against the Blazers, head coach Doug Christie explained the "bigger picture."

"We're gonna do what's best for Ben. ... Would you love it if he played every game? Yeah, but there's a bigger picture here," Christie said. "And that picture is for him to be available for 82 games in the regular season when it counts. That's when we need him the most. So as much as I want him to play in front of our fans, and we want him to, we have to be smart and work together to make sure that he is the best version of himself."

Doug Christie on the decision to sit Ben Simmons:

“There’s a bigger picture here, and that picture is for him to be available for 82 games in the regular season when it counts...”

“So as much as I want him to play in front of our fans, and we want him to, we have to be smart…” pic.twitter.com/DaURWt410N
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) October 14, 2026

After making his Kings debut against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, NBA insider Marc J. Spears of Andscape reported that Simmons was expected to ramp up his minutes in Sacramento's final two preseason matches. Instead, though, Simmons sat out Tuesday's game and now has only one more chance to get in-game reps before his first regular season appearance since April 2025.

Keeping the team healthy

Of course, we can understand wanting to keep the team healthy, and sidelining four starters and a handful of key bench players is one way to do that. Last season, the Kings were ravaged by health concerns, and after Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell both suffered multi-week injuries in their previous preseason outing, they likely adopted a more cautious approach.

However, this is not always the best approach. Christie believes the Kings are doing their players a favor by managing their preseason workload, but these are valuable opportunities for a group that still hasn't played together.

"We want to compete, we want to build chemistry ... Health, soreness, workload, we have to manage those at the same time. It's a delicate balance ... We have to build chemistry, but at the same time, we have to be smart," he said.

Doug Christie on the majority of his team being sidelined during tonight's preseason action:

"We want to compete, we want to build chemistry... Health, soreness, workload, we have to manage those at the same time. It's a delicate balance... We have to build chemistry, but at the…
— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) October 14, 2026

Simmons, especially, would benefit from some extra live reps. Sure, practice time is valuable, but he spent the entire 2025-26 season at home. Getting back into the game-day routine, evaluating his conditioning, and facing players who he is not seeing in practice every day are all valuable aspects of the preseason, especially for a player who has not played in a year and a half.

Sure, he has an extensive injury history, and the Kings want to make sure he is healthy for the regular season, but we should have seen him on the floor on Tuesday night.

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