Ben Simmons Tears Achilles, Out for Season With Kings

Ben Simmons' comeback is over before it started. The Sacramento Kings said Sunday that Simmons tore his right Achilles tendon during a live drill at practice, an MRI confirmed it, and he will have surgery. It is expected to cost him the entire 2026-27 season, three days before the Kings open at the Clippers.

This one stings. Simmons, 30, sat out all of last season to get his body right after years of back trouble, and by every account out of Sacramento it was working.

The Camp That Changed the Conversation

The Kings signed Simmons to a one-year deal on Sept. 4, after he worked out for general manager Scott Perry in Miami and then visited Sacramento for a medical exam and an on-court session with Doug Christie's staff. The plan, per ESPN's Anthony Slater, was for him to back up rookie point guard Darius Acuff Jr. and play anywhere from the 1 to the 5.

He looked the part. In two preseason games, Simmons averaged 10.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists, and NBC Sports' Kurt Helin wrote that he was expected to start. For a former No. 1 overall pick, Rookie of the Year and three-time All-Star who had not looked like himself since his Philadelphia days, that was a real story heading into opening week.

Simmons answered with a statement on social media. "This injury is another chapter in my journey, not the end of my story," he wrote. "But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that adversity doesn't define you. How you respond to it does."

Where That Leaves Sacramento

The Kings are coming off a 22-60 season and are building around Acuff, the No. 7 pick out of Arkansas. Simmons was supposed to be the veteran who could run the second unit, defend multiple spots and make the young guards' lives easier. Now Christie has to rebuild his rotation on short notice.

The frontcourt is banged up, too. NBC Sports reported that reserve center Maxime Raynaud is out a couple of weeks with a right patellar subluxation and Dylan Cardwell will miss a couple of weeks with a left calf strain, leaving Domantas Sabonis to carry the middle with Precious Achiuwa and two-way big Jonathan Mogbo behind him. If you grabbed Simmons as a deep-league fantasy flier, he is a drop.

Up Next

Sacramento opens Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Clippers at Intuit Dome (10:30 p.m. ET), then plays its home opener Friday against Portland at Golden 1 Center. Kings fans were ready to cheer Simmons on that floor. Now the young guys have to give them a reason to stand up.