Former No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons is trying to get back into the NBA for the 2026-27 season after spending all of last season unsigned. And if the latest buzz is any indication, there are a few teams that could make sense if he really is ready to return as a healthy, late-summer pickup.
Simmons was last in the league with the Los Angeles Clippers, where he spent half a season after being waived by the Brooklyn Nets earlier in the 2023-24 campaign. Now 30, the four-time All-Star is said to be 100% healthy and staying in shape with the Australian national team camp. The appeal is obvious: a 6’9″ guard/forward who has averaged 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1.5 steals over his career, still has the kind of defensive versatility and playmaking that can change a bench unit.
One of the clearest fits mentioned is the Los Angeles Lakers. Simmons is reportedly being courted by just one Western Conference team right now, and if that’s accurate, the Lakers may be the most likely landing spot.
They’ve been trying to add frontcourt depth after spending heavily on guards and acquiring Walker Kessler. If they miss on Jonathan Kuminga, Simmons could become the fallback - a veteran presence who rebounds hard and defends all over the floor.
There’s an obvious overlap concern with Jarred Vanderbilt, but Simmons brings something different as a secondary creator. In theory, he could work as a short-roll passer and athletic pick-and-roll partner for Luka Doncic, giving the Lakers another connective piece alongside Doncic and Austin Reaves. The lack of a jumper is still baked into the deal, but the Lakers may have enough offensive structure to make the rest of Simmons’ game matter.
Phoenix is another team that fits the profile. The Suns are built as a win-now roster, but the combination of trade mistakes and an empty asset cabinet has left them expensive and boxed in. If they want to avoid another Play-In trip and another quick first-round exit, they need to find a different kind of solution.
Simmons would give Phoenix a backup frontcourt option with real value. He could handle some of the playmaking at the point and take pressure off Devin Booker, or slide to the three in lineups with Booker, Dillon Brooks, Miles Bridges, and Mark Williams to help stabilize the defense.
His best role might be as a backup four behind Bridges, letting Booker stay in his natural scoring lane instead of spending too much time as the setup man. Colin Gillespie has been solid, but Simmons, at his peak, was one of the league’s better passers.
That blend of size, versatility, and passing is exactly why the Suns would have reason to look. He addresses two of their biggest issues at once: playmaking and multi-position defense.
Denver also belongs in the conversation. The Nuggets are the NBA’s only second-apron team heading into 2026-27, so they have to hunt for value wherever they can find it. Peyton Watson’s status is still unresolved, and that could leave Denver needing another defender with that kind of size and flexibility.
Simmons obviously doesn’t replace Watson’s outside shooting, but he would give the Nuggets another rotation piece who can defend, handle some of the playmaking, and help cover for Nikola Jokic on the back end. He could also ease the load on Aaron Gordon defensively while functioning as a backup creator in lineups built around shooters.
If Denver keeps Watson, Simmons could still fit as part of a four-man forward group with Watson, Gordon, and Spencer Jones. Either way, the Nuggets are in a spot where they need to swing for upside, and a fully healthy Simmons - a former Defensive Player of the Year finalist - would qualify as one of the bigger bets they could make.
In Other News...
Dillon Brooks Just Changed The Tone Of The Suns Roster
Dillon Brooks has already changed the feel of the Suns roster, giving Phoenix the kind of edge and edge-of-the-seat volatility that can reshape a teams identity in a hurry. The fit has been strong enough that his arrival is being discussed in the wider NBA conversation, not just as a useful move for the Suns, but as the kind of addition other contenders can look at and wish they had made first.
For a Warriors team dealing with its own questions, Brooks has become the sort of wing presence that stands out even more in contrast to where Golden State is now. The comparison inevitably drifts toward Jimmy Butler, whose injury and contract situation have complicated the picture, and it is hard not to notice how much cleaner the Suns situation looks with Brooks in place, even if the full long-term payoff still has to play out. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Just Showed How Much Dillon Brooks Matters In Phoenix
The Suns locked in one of their most important tone-setters this week, agreeing to a three-year, $73 million extension with Dillon Brooks that keeps the forward in Phoenix through the 2029-30 season. The team confirmed the deal in a press release, and general manager Brian Gregory singled out Brooks competitiveness and the impact he has made since arriving from Houston, a sign of how quickly he has become more than just another rotation piece.
For a roster trying to build toward sustained postseason relevance, Brooks gives Phoenix the kind of edge and edge-of-the-seat presence teams tend to notice most once the games tighten up. His fit has already been clear enough for the Suns to make a fully guaranteed commitment, and the bigger question now is how much that kind of reliability will matter when the playoff stakes get higher. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Fans Are Split On What This Offseason Really Fixed
The Suns spent the offseason trying to sell continuity, keeping key free agents in place and making a point of staying familiar rather than chasing a full roster reset. They also made a draft-day move to land Koa Peat, a bet on adding another young piece while trying to address their interior play, but the broader reaction around the league has been mixed enough that some analysts still handed the summer a low grade.
Much of the pushback has centered on the trade for Miles Bridges, a deal that cost Phoenix a future first-round pick and immediately invited debate about his legal history, contract situation and fit on a team still trying to clarify its needs. For Suns fans, the question is less about whether the front office was active and more about whether the moves actually solved anything meaningful, or simply rearranged the same problems into a new shape. [Read more 🡒]