More and more, it's looking like the Sacramento Kings intend to start Ben Simmons in one of the forward positions. If that happens, the Kings now have to decide who is backing Darius Acuff Jr. up. Sacramento isn't exactly swimming in point guards these days, which is why they signed Simmons.
Based on what fans have seen in the preseason, Acuff has the skills to pay the bills. While he's had some ups and downs, his overall performance has been impressive. Acuff's talent as a scorer is legit, but he's going to have to work on facilitation. Basically, he needs to pass to his teammates more.
After drafting Acuff, the Kings started looking for backup at point guard. They have Malik Monk and Adam Flagler, but they are better shooting guards. That's why they decided to bring Ben Simmons back to the league. When healthy, he's a great point guard. Plus, his contract is quite inexpensive.
Simmons didn't play much in the preseason, but the Kings started him at power forward rather than using him as a point guard. Online chatter is that Sacramento intends to continue starting Simmons in the regular season. And I think we all know he isn't taking Acuff's spot at this point.
What's the plan, Doug?
Being that Simmons is returning to the league after taking more than a year off to rehab various injuries, the Kings aren't likely intending to run him 30 minutes per game. As such, he's not going to be Acuff's primary backup if he's already starting as either power forward or small forward.
Sure, Sacramento still has both Monk and Flagler, but neither player got many minutes in the preseason. And apparently Monk is injured. If the Kings hang onto Elfrid Payton, he would be a solid backup and a reasonable mentor for Acuff. "If" is the key word, as there are no guarantees.
The most intriguing and surprising option has to be Nique Clifford. He's not a natural point guard, but the Kings have been working with him at that position in the preseason. Their long-term intention could be to turn Clifford into a more versatile player and another backup for Acuff.
Regardless of what may or may not be going on behind the scenes, the whole Simmons thing doesn't make much sense. Before signing Simmons, the Kings already had multiple forwards to work with. They needed a secondary point guard. Maybe that was never the intention for Simmons at all.
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