What looked ominous Monday night became official less than 24 hours later.
Philadelphia 76ers center Ariel Hukporti suffered a torn right Achilles tendon in the team’s preseason opener against the New York Knicks and will miss the entire 2026-27 season, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday.
An MRI confirmed the tear, and Hukporti was scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
It is a devastating turn for the 24-year-old, who signed a one-year, $3.4 million contract with Philadelphia this summer and arrived with a legitimate opportunity to earn the backup center job behind Joel Embiid.
Hukporti’s Sixers debut lasted only five minutes.
The 7-footer went down without contact while defending former teammate Karl-Anthony Towns early in the first quarter of Philadelphia’s 120-97 preseason victory. Hukporti immediately grabbed at the back of his right lower leg and could not put weight on it.
Towns helped his former teammate toward the Sixers’ bench before Philadelphia’s medical staff took over.
Sixers’ Center Depth Takes Major Hit
The injury creates an immediate problem behind Embiid.
Hukporti and Adem Bona entered training camp as Philadelphia’s primary candidates for backup center minutes. Bona, however, has been sidelined by a left foot sprain suffered while playing for Turkey during the offseason.
Tacko Fall is also dealing with a hip injury, while Dominick Barlow missed Monday’s game with a back issue.
That left Hukporti as Philadelphia’s only available traditional center against New York with Embiid sitting out.
Once Hukporti went down, coach Nick Nurse had to improvise with smaller frontcourt combinations.
The Sixers have expressed confidence in Bona, Barlow and Jabari Walker as options behind Embiid. Before Fall’s injury, the team had also been encouraged by what it saw from the 7-foot-6 center during camp.
But replacing Hukporti externally might be complicated.
76ers Face Major Roster Complication
Philadelphia is only $1.8 million below its first-apron hard cap, according to ClutchPoint’s Brett Siegel, limiting the team’s flexibility following Hukporti’s season-ending injury.
Siegel reported that the Sixers would not be able to use a potential disabled player exception to simply add another player. He identified two possible paths: Philadelphia could waive Walker to create cap room for another signing or make a small trade.
That makes Hukporti’s loss more consequential than simply removing one center from the depth chart.
The Sixers built their frontcourt knowing Embiid’s workload would require careful management. Losing one of their primary backup options before opening night — while several other big men are already injured — immediately tests that depth.
For Hukporti, the timing is particularly cruel.
After spending his first two NBA seasons fighting for opportunities with the Knicks, he came to Philadelphia with a clearer path to playing time and a chance to establish himself in Nurse’s rotation.
That opportunity disappeared five minutes into his Sixers debut.
Now Hukporti faces surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation, while Philadelphia faces an unexpectedly complicated question before the regular season has even begun: how to replace him with precious little room to maneuver.
76ers Get More Bad News After Big Man’s Season-Ending Injury