Simmons Tore His Achilles Before Opening Night — Sacramento's Comeback Plan Is Gone
GOATIFYBen Simmons spent more than a year trying to make his NBA return feel like a beginning. On Sunday, October 18, that comeback suffered a devastating interruption: the Sacramento Kings confirmed a torn right Achilles tendon sustained in practice, only days before their regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers. Surgery is expected, and the injury is likely to cost the 30-year-old the 2026–27 season. Sacramento has not announced a definitive return date.
That timing makes this more than a late preseason injury report. Simmons had been building toward a starting role alongside rookie guard Darius Acuff Jr. after sitting out the entire previous season. He had shown flashes of the passing, rebounding and defensive versatility that once made him an All-Star. Now coach Doug Christie must rethink a rotation designed around a player who could move the ball and defend several positions without needing plays called for him. For Simmons, the most painful part is that the long-awaited official return may have disappeared before it happened.
A Torn Achilles Ends the Opening-Night Plan Before It Starts
The Kings entered the final days of the preseason with an unusually compelling individual storyline. Simmons had not played a regular-season NBA game since April 2025, and Sacramento's one-year deal offered a relatively low-cost chance to see whether his body and his game could hold up again. His new team was not promising a return to the player who once drove Philadelphia's offense. It was asking whether a veteran with rare size and court vision could help a young roster function.
The first signs were encouraging. Across two preseason appearances, Simmons averaged 10.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and four assists. In the finale against San Antonio he produced 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, numbers that suggested his contributions would extend beyond scoring. The small sample mattered, but so did its limits: two exhibitions are not a durability test for an 82-game season, and no one could know how he would respond to months of travel, practices and regular-season physicality.
Darius Acuff Loses the Veteran Partner Who Could Simplify His Rookie Year
Darius Acuff Jr. may feel the basketball consequences most immediately. Sacramento used the seventh pick in the 2026 draft on a guard expected to carry significant creation responsibilities. Simmons offered an unusual partner: a 6-foot-10 playmaker who could bring the ball up after rebounds, read over smaller defenders and relieve the rookie of difficult half-court decisions. That combination would not have solved every problem, particularly because Simmons' limited outside shooting lets opponents crowd the lane. But it offered Acuff another way to learn without directing every possession.
Now the Kings must redistribute those tasks. Acuff may handle more of the offense himself, while Malik Monk and other veterans can supply secondary creation. A smaller guard might improve spacing but cannot automatically replace Simmons' defensive matchups against bigger wings. Sacramento needs reliable screens, passing outlets and sensible minutes rather than treating its rookie's first few games as a verdict on his readiness. Simmons can still offer advice while recovering, but he cannot be the live partner who steadies a young guard when the defense takes away the first option.
Sabonis, LaVine and Christie Face a Different Kind of Lineup Puzzle
Sacramento still has experienced offensive players in Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine, with Keegan Murray and De'Andre Hunter offering different wing combinations. The problem is not finding five starters. It is deciding which five can replace Simmons' passing, size and defensive flexibility without sacrificing the spacing needed for the scorers. His absence changes the balance of the lineup rather than simply opening a vacant nameplate.
A stronger shooter could create cleaner driving lanes for LaVine and give Sabonis more room inside. A defensive-minded forward could preserve size but shift additional ball-handling pressure to Acuff. Simmons himself was no ideal spacer, so the coaching staff may discover advantages in a different arrangement. Yet his ability to rebound, advance the ball and switch assignments was hard to reproduce in one substitution. Doug Christie will need to test combinations, identify units that can defend and settle on reliable late-clock options. Sacramento's 22–60 finish last season means cohesion, not nostalgia for a hypothetical starting five, has to be the priority.
For Simmons, the Hardest Question Is What Comes After Another Lost Season
It is easy to reduce Simmons' career to the injuries and criticism that followed his Philadelphia peak. That overlooks how good he was. The 2016 No. 1 pick became Rookie of the Year in 2018, earned three All-Star selections and twice made the All-Defensive First Team. His best seasons combined passing vision, rebounding and disruptive defense from a ball-handler's position. Those skills explain why teams kept exploring ways to use him even as his scoring confidence and availability declined.
His path after Philadelphia was uneven. A move to Brooklyn did not deliver a clean restart, and a later Clippers stint offered limited minutes. Across 51 games with those teams in 2024–25, he averaged five points, 5.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds. He then missed all of 2025–26 before signing a one-year deal in Sacramento. The two promising preseason appearances were meaningful precisely because the goal had become consistency, not superstardom. A torn Achilles removes the chance to build regular-season evidence. It also clouds his hopes of representing Australia again, although no one can responsibly declare his international career or NBA future over before rehabilitation has begun.
The Kings' Depth Test Starts Before the Season Even Begins
Simmons' absence is also a reminder that Sacramento cannot build a season around an ideal lineup that exists only on paper. The Kings have other players returning from setbacks, including young frontcourt contributors such as Maxime Raynaud. Those situations should not be equated with a torn Achilles, but they make depth and sensible workload planning central to the club's early-season decisions. A rebuilding team needs reliable minutes from more than its projected starters.
The immediate tasks are concrete. Christie must decide how many ball-handlers to keep on the floor with Acuff, which forwards can defend larger opponents and how Sabonis can be supported without overcrowding the paint. The team can explore roster options, but no transaction has been confirmed as a direct replacement for Simmons. Overreacting to one injury by sacrificing longer-term flexibility would carry its own cost. Sacramento should separate what it knows—the loss of a versatile veteran for a likely extended period—from what it still needs to test in games. The season will reveal which young players can absorb responsibility and which roles require outside help.
There are two separate stories to follow now. Sacramento must name a workable opening-night rotation, decide how much responsibility to place on Acuff and establish a clearer identity without the veteran it expected to use. Simmons, meanwhile, faces a rehabilitation process that cannot be reduced to a calendar prediction. Surgery is expected, but the club has not provided a definitive return date. His two preseason appearances were encouraging evidence that he still had useful skills; they were not a guarantee that his body would cooperate for a full season. The Kings can move to their next game immediately. Simmons' next chapter will take longer to write.
