Doug Christie on sitting Ben Simmons: the bigger picture is 82 games

SACRAMENTO — Oct. 14, 2026 — Ben Simmons’ home debut with the Kings will have to wait. After the three-time All-Star sat out Tuesday’s 110-98 preseason loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, head coach Doug Christie framed the decision around something larger than one exhibition night.

“As I told you guys the other night, we’re going to do what’s best for Ben,” Christie said after the game. “So, as we go through this, we want to listen to him, staff, everything, as we continue to build him up. We’ll see what’s happening in the morning, and we’ll take it from there. But he has been spectacular.”

82 games, not every preseason night

Simmons had just made his Sacramento debut Saturday against the Golden State Warriors — seven points in nine minutes after a 529-day absence from an NBA game. Fans at Golden 1 Center expected to see him again Tuesday. Instead he was among a long list of Kings who did not dress, alongside Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk, Darius Acuff Jr., De’Andre Hunter and others still being managed through camp.

Christie did not soften the tradeoff. “Would you love it that he played every night? Yeah. But 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; and it really counts. That’s when we need him the most,” he said after Tuesday’s loss.

“As much as I want to play him in front of our fans, and we want to, we have to be smart and work together to make sure that he is the best version of himself, and we will do that,” Christie added.

Chemistry vs. workload

The Kings fell to 0-4 in the preseason with another short-handed lineup. Christie acknowledged the tension between building chemistry and protecting bodies after a season when Sacramento was often cut down by availability issues — and after multi-week injuries already hit Dylan Cardwell and Maxime Raynaud earlier in these exhibitions.

“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,” Christie said. “We have to build chemistry, but at the same time, we have to be smart.”

On Simmons specifically, Christie said the staff and player are aligned. “Everything that Ben’s doing to get his body right, to be prepared, I have no issues at all. We are all on the same page when it comes to Ben and him being ready to perform.”

One exhibition left before opening night

Sacramento has one preseason game remaining before the regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 21. Reports around the club still have Simmons projected to start that night next to Acuff, even after Tuesday’s rest. The exhibition record will not travel; how healthy and available Simmons is for those 82 nights will.

More on WhyNBA: Simmons ends his 529-day absence in the Kings debut and Simmons expected to start the opener alongside Darius Acuff.