Wednesday, October 7, 2026
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The Philadelphia 76ers entered the preseason with one of the deepest rosters they have had in the Joel Embiid era.
Then, almost immediately, they lost one of the players who was supposed to help stabilize the biggest question on the roster.
Ariel Hukporti suffered a right Achilles injury during Monday's preseason opener against the New York Knicks. The 24-year-old center was competing with Adem Bona for the backup center job behind Joel Embiid, and his injury could leave the Sixers scrambling for answers.
Hukporti's injury is particularly problematic because Philadelphia isn't operating with unlimited financial flexibility. The Sixers are hard-capped at the first apron, meaning they can't simply go out and sign whichever free-agent center they want.
That leaves Philadelphia with three realistic options to get through the early portion of the season.
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The simplest solution is also the one the Sixers already began experimenting with Monday night.
Stick with what they have.
If Bona is healthy, he immediately becomes the primary backup center. The former UCLA big man has already shown flashes of being a legitimate defensive option, and the Sixers don't necessarily need him to become Embiid for 15-20 minutes a night. They just need him to defend, rebound, run the floor and provide some athleticism around Philadelphia's star-heavy lineup.
But the bigger adjustment could come with how often Nick Nurse is willing to go small.
Dean Wade, Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker can all spend time at the five depending on the matchup.
Wade has already shown that he can slide into the position defensively, while Barlow provides more traditional big-man athleticism and length. Walker might be the most intriguing option after his preseason debut. Walker finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds while knocking down three of his five three-point attempts. He also made several winning plays throughout the game, including an offensive rebound, a steal and a pass that led to a Jaylen Brown dunk.
If Walker can consistently rebound at that level while providing enough spacing offensively, Philadelphia may have stumbled into another small-ball option it wasn't expecting.
Barlow could provide defensive versatility. Wade could provide the shooting and veteran stability. Walker could provide rebounding and physicality, giving Nick Nurse matchup-based options.
It's not an ideal solution, but it could be enough to survive the early part of the season and considering the Sixers' financial situation, that might be all they need.
This is probably the most logical avenue if the Sixers decide they need another true center but don't want to sacrifice an asset. Philadelphia has an open two-way roster spot, and Hukporti's injury could make filling it with a center much more important.
There are a couple of intriguing names the Sixers could explore here, including Tacko Fall and Olivier Sarr.
Fall is the obvious name from a size perspective, and he is already on the training camp roster, though he is currently injured. At 7-foot-6, he would give Philadelphia something it simply doesn't have on its current roster: an enormous traditional center who can protect the rim, rebound and potentially make life difficult for opposing teams around the basket.
The Sixers wouldn't need Fall to play a ton minutes, they would simply need him to give them a legitimate option when Embiid needs a breather or when the matchup calls for another massive body in the paint.
Sarr would offer a different type of option.
The 7-foot French big man has NBA experience and provides more offensive versatility than Fall. He can operate around the basket, rebound and has shown the ability to stretch the floor, making him a potentially better fit if the Sixers want their emergency center to be capable of staying on the floor offensively.
Neither player would necessarily have to become a permanent part of the rotation. The goal would be to find someone capable of giving the team legitimate center minutes in an emergency while spending most of his time with the Delaware Blue Coats.
Philadelphia's cap situation makes this a particularly useful short-term solution. The Sixers can use the two-way spot as a bridge until they have more flexibility to make another move later in the calendar.
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If the Sixers decide they need a more proven NBA body, there is one name that makes a lot of sense. Micah Potter.
Philadelphia could explore sending Justin Edwards and a second-round pick to acquire Potter, who is on a minimum-level contract and would give the Sixers an experienced big man without requiring them to make a major financial commitment.
There is also a familiarity factor that makes Potter particularly interesting in Philadelphia. Potter has spent time around Joel Embiid through USA Basketball practices and competition, giving him some experience going up against one of the best centers in the world.
Playing against Embiid in practice is about as good of a crash course as a backup center can get. Potter would already have some understanding of the physicality, strength and skill level required to compete against Embiid, and the Sixers wouldn't be bringing in someone completely unfamiliar with their franchise center.
There is one important wrinkle to making a Potter trade work, though.
Because Potter is on a minimum-level, non-guaranteed contract, Portland would need to structure the trade in a way that allows the salary matching to work without simply guaranteeing his entire contract. The Trail Blazers could potentially use a portion of their Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception or their Bi-Annual Exception to facilitate the transaction.
That would give Portland the flexibility to make the money work while allowing Philadelphia to acquire Potter without taking on a significant long-term financial commitment.
For the Sixers, that's an important distinction. Potter's contract is non-guaranteed, meaning Philadelphia wouldn't necessarily be locked into keeping him for the entire season. His contract would need to be waived by Jan. 10 for the Sixers to avoid taking on the guarantee, making the potential trade much easier to stomach.
The Sixers could acquire Potter now, give him an opportunity to compete to become Joel Embiid's primary backup and see how the situation develops over the next few months.
If he works? Great. They have their backup center. If he doesn't? The Sixers can move on from the contract before the January guarantee date and pursue another option.
That's exactly the type of flexibility a team operating under the first-apron restrictions should be looking for.
Potter also brings some offensive versatility to the position. He can stretch the floor, rebound and provide a different offensive look than Adem Bona.
The biggest question is whether Philadelphia believes Potter is worth giving up Edwards and a second-round pick. Edwards is still a young player the Sixers could potentially develop, and second-round picks have value for a team trying to maintain depth around its stars.
If the front office believes Potter can stabilize the backup center position until Embiid returns to full strength and the team has more financial flexibility, giving up a young player and a second-round pick could be a reasonable price.
And because of the structure of Potter's contract, Philadelphia would still retain an important escape hatch. That could make him one of the more logical short-term trade targets for the Sixers.
The worst thing Philadelphia could do right now is overreact to one preseason injury.
Hukporti's injury is obviously significant, but the Sixers don't need to solve their backup center position for the entire season right now. They need to survive until they have more financial flexibility.
Bona could return and immediately make this problem look much smaller. Walker could continue to play well. Barlow could establish himself as a legitimate small-ball five. And a two-way center could provide enough insurance to get through the early part of the season. If none of that works, then Philadelphia can turn to the trade market.
It's not the perfect solution, but there may not be a perfect solution available right now. For now, the Sixers have enough options to survive. They just need one of them to work.
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