Ariel Hukporti’s season-ending Achilles tear left the 76ers with a very specific problem: they need another backup center, but the cleanest answer may not arrive in one move.
Philadelphia is now weighing two tracks at once. One is external, with Jake Fischer of The Stein Line mentioning Milwaukee Bucks center Jericho Sims and Dallas Mavericks center Moussa Cissé as possibilities. The other is internal, with Adem Bona positioned to get a real chance to claim minutes that opened up when Hukporti went down.
That choice is complicated by timing and money.
The Sixers are only about $1.8 million below the first apron, which limits how freely they can operate. If Dallas were to waive Cissé, Philadelphia would not be able to sign him without cutting salary somewhere else. And even if the front office wants to add a big man through a standard NBA deal, the team is unlikely to do that before early December.
That delay matters because Hukporti is not trade-eligible until Dec. 15. So for now, the Sixers are looking at stopgaps, not a clean long-term fix.
One of those stopgaps may be the last two-way roster spot, which the team is expected to use on another backup big. Another could be a salary move, with Jabari Walker’s partially guaranteed contract giving Philadelphia a possible path to create room if it decides to chase a free agent.
But the most immediate audition belongs to Bona.
The Sixers have already set a timeline to get him back in action by two weeks into training camp, and Bona said he feels the summer work has kept him ready.
“Playing all summer helps with staying in shape, staying in game-ready shape,” Bona said.
There is at least some reason for Philadelphia to believe he can handle the opportunity. Bona averaged 1.2 blocks in just 17.4 minutes per game last season, a reminder that his rim protection can show up quickly even in limited minutes. At the same time, he also dealt with a foot sprain last month while playing for Türkiye in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, so the ramp-up is not entirely clean.
That is the tension in Philadelphia’s backup-center picture: Bona has a path to minutes, but the team is still checking the market for help. Sims and Cissé are on the list. The two-way spot is still open. The calendar is still pushing the Sixers toward December before a standard-deal addition becomes realistic.
For now, the next backup center could be a signing, a waiver claim, or simply Bona getting the first real crack at the job.