Kings’ Doug Christie on sitting Ben Simmons: ‘There’s a bigger picture here’

Ben Simmons’ home debut with the Kings will have to wait. Doug Christie is more concerned with keeping him available once the games count.

Simmons sat out Tuesday’s 110-98 preseason loss to Portland after making his Sacramento debut Saturday against Golden State. Christie said the decision was part of managing the veteran’s workload.

“Would you love it if he played every game? Yeah, but there’s a bigger picture here,” Christie said, via Brenden Nunes. “And that picture is for him to be available for 82 games in the regular season when it counts. That’s when we need him the most.”

That’s an ambitious goal for Simmons, who missed all of last season and hasn’t appeared in a regular-season game since April 2025. Sacramento is trying to give him a chance to get there.

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

The Kings were also without Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk and several others, falling to 0-4 in the preseason.

There’s a tradeoff. Sacramento needs time to build chemistry, and Simmons could use live minutes after such a lengthy absence. The Kings have one exhibition remaining.

Christie acknowledged the balancing act between getting his group ready and managing health, soreness and workload.

The preseason record won’t follow Sacramento into opening night. How prepared and healthy Simmons is certainly will