Ben Simmons gives the Sacramento Kings a new wrinkle, but not enough to shake up the top of the rotation right away.
With the three-time All-Star now on board, Sacramento could be close to having its roster set for the 2026-27 season. There’s still one open spot, but the group already looks pretty settled as the Kings head toward an October 21 opener against the L.A.
Clippers. Training camp and preseason will tell the story more clearly, but the early read points to a familiar structure up top and a crowded mix of options behind it.
The biggest takeaway: Simmons should be in the rotation, just not in the starting five. Some fans may already be pushing for a starting-lineup experiment, but that does not look like the move for opening night.
The projected starters are Darius Acuff Jr., Zach LaVine, De'Andre Hunter, Keegan Murray, and Domantas Sabonis.
That setup has felt pretty straightforward since the 2026 NBA Draft. Acuff, the seventh-overall pick, is expected to handle point guard duties from day one, while LaVine gives Sacramento a second high-level scoring guard and one of the league’s most intriguing offensive backcourts.
On the wings, Hunter and Murray appear locked into starting roles, though Doug Christie could always shuffle things later in the season. There’s also a path where Precious Achiuwa eventually pushes into that group, but not on opening night.
At center, the Kings’ choice is clear. Sacramento would like to see Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell make sophomore jumps, but Sabonis is still the anchor there and is expected to bounce back into form as one of the league’s premier big men.
The real squeeze comes on the bench, where the Kings have more playable names than there are minutes to hand out. Simmons adds another layer to an already crowded second unit, and that makes the opening-night rotation harder to pin down.
The most secure bench pieces appear to be Malik Monk, Nique Clifford, Precious Achiuwa, and Maxime Raynaud.
That group gives Sacramento a mix of scoring, development, and frontcourt size. The Kings are hoping Monk can return to his Sixth Man of the Year-level impact after a down 2025-26 season, while Clifford is a strong candidate for a sophomore leap alongside him. Achiuwa and Raynaud may be the most interesting pairing of the bunch, giving the second unit some real bite inside.
Behind them, Simmons, Emanuel Sharp, Alex Karaban, and Dylan Cardwell are the names to watch.
Simmons should be in the mix on opening night, though the Kings could choose to bring him along carefully after he sat out the 2025-26 season. Sharp and Karaban give Sacramento shooting options, but neither has a guaranteed role. Cardwell’s case is especially tough to read: he’s the team’s best shot-blocker and a strong rebounder, but it’s hard to see where the minutes come from ahead of Sabonis or Raynaud.
There’s a real chance Sacramento would like to get all four of those players involved on opening night, but with roughly 13 players capable of earning minutes, this does not look like a clean nine-man rotation. The Kings have options. The question is how many of them actually fit when the lights come on.
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Instead, the Kings passed because of concern over Youngs looming extension demands, choosing caution over a major financial commitment. Young later wound up with the Washington Wizards and landed a four-year, $212.8 million deal, which is exactly the sort of outcome that will keep Sacramento followers wondering whether the front office was protecting flexibility or leaving a proven star on the table. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Passed On A Major Guard Gamble For A Bigger Plan
Sacramentos offseason has been shaped by a clear attempt to reset the roster around younger pieces, even as familiar names like Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis have surfaced in trade chatter. That broader approach showed up again when the Kings passed on a reported opportunity to pursue Trae Young, a move that would have brought a proven scorer but also tied the franchise to a much bigger financial and roster commitment.
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Timberwolves Had A More Intriguing Frontcourt Option Than Fans Realized
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For Sacramento, the interesting part is not just that another team looked his way, but that Vezenkov remains open-ended about his future without sounding eager to uproot his life. He has not closed the door on an NBA return, yet family and stability in Greece are clearly at the center of where he is now, which leaves the Kings and everyone else who once saw him as a fit waiting to see whether that door ever swings wider. [Read more 🡒]