"The Talent Has Always Been There": Richard Jefferson Makes the Bold Case for a Ben Simmons All-Star Comeback

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"The Talent Has Always Been There": Richard Jefferson Makes the Bold Case for a Ben Simmons All-Star Comeback

Richard Jefferson appeared on ESPN Australia's "The Aussie Hoops Hour" podcast and refused to rule out Ben Simmons making the All-Star team for the Sacramento Kings in the 2026-27 season, saying directly that "Ben has the talent to be an All-Star this year" if his back is healthy and the mental side of his return is right. Simmons, who has not been an All-Star since 2021 and missed the entire 2025-26 NBA season, signed a one-year non-guaranteed deal worth up to $3.5 million with the Kings and is competing for a backup point guard spot behind No. 7 overall pick Darius Acuff Jr. on a team that went 22-60 last season. Jefferson's prediction was met with immediate social media debate, with fans divided on whether the talent that produced three All-Star selections still exists in functional form after years of injuries and absence.

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"The Talent Has Always Been There": Richard Jefferson Makes the Bold Case for a Ben Simmons All-Star Comeback

The Sacramento Kings signed him to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal worth up to $3.5 million. He had not played an NBA game in over a year. He is competing for a backup point guard spot behind a rookie. Richard Jefferson went on ESPN Australia and said he can be an All-Star. The internet had a lot of feelings about that.

Richard Jefferson was asked a reasonable question on ESPN Australia's "The Aussie Hoops Hour" podcast last week, and he gave an answer that was neither the cautious, hedged response the question invited nor the dismissive pessimism that most of the NBA commentary universe has directed toward Ben Simmons for the better part of three years. He said Ben Simmons can be an All-Star for the Sacramento Kings this season. He said it directly and without the kind of qualifications that make statements technically defensible but functionally meaningless.

"Ben's always had the talent. Ben has the talent to be an All-Star this year," Jefferson said. "If Ben goes and has the best season, he's healthy, his back is right, he has the talent to be an all-defensive player, to be Defensive Player of the Year-level talent because he can guard one through five positions. And then just his ability to play."

The context around which Jefferson made this case matters. The Kings finished 22-60 in 2025-26, tied for the worst record in the Western Conference, before selecting Darius Acuff Jr. No. 7 overall and adding Alex Karaban and Emanuel Sharp. The organization has chosen to bet on youth at the top of the roster while adding Simmons as an experienced piece who, if healthy and mentally right, can provide the kind of two-way versatility that no amount of draft capital automatically delivers. Simmons recently underwent an extensive evaluation before the Kings committed to the deal.

The expectation is that if he makes the final roster, Simmons will be the backup for rookie Darius Acuff Jr., meaning he is accepting the role that Russell Westbrook reportedly turned down before announcing his retirement. That specific detail is both humbling and clarifying. Simmons is not coming to Sacramento to be the star. He is coming to be a veteran presence at a position that Acuff, a 19-year-old first-round pick, will be learning on the job. Whether that role is sufficient to generate the All-Star visibility that Jefferson believes the talent supports is a separate question from whether the talent itself remains real.

Jefferson was careful to frame the prediction around conditions. "I think you should have no expectations," he said first, setting the baseline before elevating it. "There are certain basketball, just like many other sports, as much as it is physical, it is mental." The mental caveat is the honest heart of every Simmons conversation. His confidence was shaken after a forgettable playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks in 2021, and Simmons has never been the same again.

The physical timeline is documented and sobering. Simmons has not been an All-Star since the 2020-21 season with the Philadelphia 76ers, right before injuries really hit him hard. He missed the entire following season and, since then, has not returned to the dominant Ben Simmons we saw in Philadelphia. His 17 games with the Clippers in the second half of the 2024-25 season were the last professional basketball he played before the Kings signed him. He spent the entire 2025-26 NBA season away from the league entirely.

After winning Rookie of the Year in 2018, Ben was an All-Star from 2019 to 2021 and made the All-NBA third team in 2020 and the All-Defensive second team in 2020 and 2021. Those credentials are why Jefferson's assessment is not pure fantasy. The talent that produced those results has not been surgically removed. The question is whether the back issues that derailed everything are sufficiently resolved, and whether the mental component that Jefferson identified as the other critical variable has been addressed in the year away from the game.

Sacramento's roster construction puts Simmons in an unusual competitive position. He is not starting. He is not the primary option. He is the veteran presence on a rebuilding team that went 22-60 last season and added a 19-year-old rookie with the seventh pick. The All-Star pathway Jefferson described would require Simmons to produce enough in his reduced role to generate the vote totals that most Western Conference guards generate from far larger offensive platforms than backup point guard on a losing team in Sacramento.

The internet's response to Jefferson's comments was immediate and largely skeptical. The contrast between Jefferson's optimistic claim and Simmons' low-risk contract immediately ignited intense debate across social media, where fans questioned whether Simmons could ever overcome his well-documented offensive hesitation, with one fan stating he had always believed Simmons had what it took. The Simmons conversation has been running in these grooves for years: believers pointing to the physical gifts that made him a three-time All-Star, skeptics pointing to the free-throw refusal, the 2021 playoff collapse, and the accumulated absence that followed.

Jefferson's position is neither the most optimistic nor the most pessimistic available take on Simmons' return. It is the one that gives the talent its full credit while acknowledging honestly that everything depends on variables nobody outside the Kings' medical and coaching staff can currently assess. Sacramento's training camp opens September 29. The first preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers is October 5. Those games will not answer every question about Ben Simmons. But they will answer the most basic one: whether the player who was three-time All-Star material before everything fell apart can still move the way he moved then.

Ben Simmons career timeline: No. 1 overall pick 2016 NBA Draft, Philadelphia 76ers. Rookie of the Year 2018. Three-time All-Star (2019, 2020, 2021). All-NBA Third Team 2020. All-Defensive Second Team 2020, 2021. Missed 2021-22 season. Traded to Brooklyn Nets 2022. Back injury surgeries. 17 games with LA Clippers, 2024-25. Missed all of 2025-26. Sacramento Kings contract: 1-year, non-guaranteed, up to $3.5 million ($1 million if he makes opening night roster). Kings 2025-26 record: 22-60 (tied worst in Western Conference). Richard Jefferson quote: ESPN Australia "Aussie Hoops Hour" podcast, September 10, 2026. Kings training camp: September 29, 2026. First preseason game: October 5 vs. Los Angeles Lakers.