Ariel Hukporti is officially done for the season with a torn Achilles. The Sixers don’t have an easy way to replace him, which is further exposing their already flimsy center depth behind Joel Embiid.
We’ve already covered why the Sixers can’t easily replace Hukporti. The TL;DR version: They’re hard-capped at the first apron and don’t have enough wiggle room under it at the moment to sign anyone other than an undrafted free-agent rookie. They’d have to waive Jabari Walker or dump salary to sign someone
to a standard contract.
The good news is that they do still have an open two-way spot, which they could use to sign someone as a stopgap solution. After all, they initially signed both Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker to two-way deals last year before converting both to standard contracts, so there’s recent history of them making good use of those spots.
With that in mind, we’ve taken a brief walk around the league to examine some training camp battles that could help the Sixers solve their backup center problem for now. Fair warning: These are not for the faint of heart.
Indiana Pacers
The Pacers have two bigs signed to Exhibit 10 deals, Rienk Mast and Keba Keita. Of the two, Mast might be the better bet. Mast is listed at 6’10” and 250 pounds on the Pacers’ training camp roster, while Keita is 6’8″ and 230 pounds.
Mast spent his first three years of college at Bradley before transferring to Nebraska ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. He averaged 12.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 29.5 minutes per game across his 66 games at Nebraska, although he blocked only 26 total shots over those two years. On the bright side, he did shoot 32.5 percent from deep on 4.3 attempts per game, so he could add a floor-spacing element to the Sixers’ frontcourt.
Keita split his college career between Utah and BYU, but he never averaged more than 8.3 points or 7.9 rebounds in any of his four seasons. He was a better shot-blocker than Mast in college, but it’s hard to imagine that translating to the NBA given his height (or lack thereof).
The Pacers do still have one open roster spot, so they could always sign Mast or Keita to a standard contract if either impresses during the preseason. But if both get shipped down to the G League, the Sixers could poach one of them if so desired.
Milwaukee Bucks
Staying in the Central Division, the Milwaukee Bucks also have a pair of centers signed to Exhibit 10 contracts. They just signed Johni Broome (no thank you), but they also added Jake Stephens on an Exhibit 10 in mid-September.
Stephens spent most of his collegiate career at VMI before heading to Chattanooga for his final season. He averaged 22.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 blocks and 2.1 threes during that lone campaign at Chattanooga before heading overseas for the past few years.
Last season, Stephens played for KK Split in the Croatian A-1 League and Adriatic League ABA. He chipped in 9.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.4 blocks and 0.3 threes in 16.1 minutes per game while shooting 54.2 percent overall and 29.4 percent from deep across 61 appearances.
Stephens turns 27 in early November and has a few years of international experience, so he’s more seasoned than a typical NBA rookie. That could be appealing for a Sixers team that’s smack dab in a win-now window.
New York Knicks
Out of any camp battle, this is the one worth keeping an eye on, even if it wouldn’t necessarily provide immediate relief for the Sixers.
The Knicks signed all three of James Wiseman, Tony Bradley and Drew Eubanks to Exhibit 9 contracts leading up to training camp. That’s notable, as Exhibit 10 deals have ties to the G League, whereas Exhibit 9s do not.
The cost-conscious Knicks do have two open roster spots, and Stefan Bondy of the New York Post recently reported that they’re planning to fill one of them with a center. Wiseman got the most playing time of the three in the Knicks’ preseason opener Monday against the Sixers, finishing with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, five rebounds and one block in nine minutes. Bradley had two points and no other contributions of note in six minutes, while Eubanks had one point, one rebound, one turnover and two fouls in his six minutes.
The Knicks are less than $3.3 million below the second apron, which team owner James Dolan adamantly refuses to cross, so they don’t have enough wiggle room to sign two of Wiseman, Bradley or Eubanks. Regardless of which one they sign, the other two will head back into free agency, where the Sixers can keep tabs on them once the calendar flips to December. (Unfortunately, none of Wiseman, Bradley or Eubanks are eligible for two-way deals since they have more than three years of NBA experience.)
OKC Thunder
The last thing the Oklahoma City Thunder need is another center. They already have Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Thomas Sorber and Aday Mara taking up four of their 15 standard roster spots. That didn’t stop them from signing Christoph Tilly to an Exhibit 10 contract, though.
Tilly spent his first three collegiate seasons at Santa Clara before transferring to Ohio State ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. He averaged 11.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.5 blocks and 0.4 made threes in 26.0 minutes per game with the Buckeyes across 32 outings. He shot only 23.2 percent from deep on low volume, so he isn’t much of a threat from long range, but he’s not a complete non-factor, either.
The Thunder liberally rested starters in their preseason opener against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, which allowed them—and the rest of the league—to get a long look at Tilly. He finished with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting, four rebounds, two assists, one block, three turnovers and four fouls in 25 minutes.
Tilly is listed on the Thunder’s training camp roster as 7’0″ and 246 pounds, so he at least has the size to fill in behind Embiid and Bona. Stephens might be the more promising option based on his overseas experience, but Tilly could be an intriguing flier.
Phoenix Suns
Finally, someone with actual NBA experience!
After going undrafted in 2023, Duop Reath initially signed a two-way deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers wound up converting him after the 2024 trade deadline to a three-year, $6.2 million minimum contract.
Reath appeared in 146 games for the Blazers during his three seasons in Portland, including 20 starts his rookie year. He finished his tenure there with averages of 6.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.0 threes and 0.4 blocks in only 13.3 minutes per game. The Blazers wound up trading him and two second-round picks to the Atlanta Hawks for Vít Krejčí ahead of last year’s trade deadline, and the Hawks promptly waived him.
Reath signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Suns this offseason, but they already have 15 players under standard contract and all three of their two-way spots filled. If the Sixers prefer to sign someone with NBA experience to their last two-way spot, the 6’9″, 245-pound Reath might be their best option at center, particularly since he overlapped with Anfernee Simons and Rayan Rupert in Portland.
Toronto Raptors
After spending five seasons at Oregon, Nate Bittle went undrafted this past summer and promptly signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Toronto Raptors. He averaged 9.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.8 blocks and 1.8 threes in only 20.6 minutes per game in his four summer-league outings while shooting 50.0 percent overall and 43.8 percent from deep.
That shot-blocking and three-point-shooting ability wasn’t an outlier, either. During his super-senior season at Oregon, Bittle averaged 1.8 blocks and 1.4 threes per game, although he shot only 31.9 percent from distance.
The Raptors do still have one standard roster spot open, although they’re less than $1 million below the first apron. They presumably won’t be willing to cross that and subject themselves to the first-apron restrictions to sign a 15th man, even if it means playing keep-away from a division rival.
Utah Jazz
After going undrafted in 2025, Jonas Aidoo signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Charlotte Hornets, who promptly waived him two days later. He latched on with their G League affiliate in late December and averaged 5.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in only 11.5 minutes per game while shooting 55.2 percent overall.
The 6’11”, 240-pound center signed another Exhibit 10 deal this offseason, albeit with the Utah Jazz this time around. He’s played sparingly over their first two preseason games, although he did chip in six points on 2-of-3 shooting, five rebounds and a block in only eight minutes against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.
The Jazz have plenty of breathing room under the aprons and do have an open roster spot, so they could choose to sign Aidoo to a standard contract or convert one of their two-ways to a standard deal and hand him that open two-way deal instead. But if he does shake loose, he has a year’s worth of G League experience that could give him a leg up on some of the other fresh-out-of-college options whom the Sixers might consider for their last two-way spot.
Again, none of these options are perfect. But the Sixers are desperate for a warm body who’s roughly 7 feet tall in the wake of Hukporti’s injury. Thankfully, they could have some half-decent options available in the next few weeks as long as these Exhibit 10 signees don’t get converted to standard contracts.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.
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