The 76ers built an offseason roster with plenty to like, but the cracks were always there. One of the biggest ones is already getting stress-tested, and it has nothing to do with shot creation or spacing.
It’s the center spot.
That position has been a linchpin for Philadelphia throughout the Joel Embiid era, and it was supposed to be covered this season by a deeper group. Instead, the Sixers are stumbling into camp and the preseason with bad news piling up fast.
Adem Bona, last year’s primary backup big man, arrived with a foot sprain. The team and Bona have said they don’t expect it to affect his regular-season availability, but it still leaves him trying to learn a new roster while not fully right.
That matters because Embiid is always one wrong step away from missing major time, and even in a healthy season he’ll need plenty of load management. Bona was supposed to be first in line.
He still hasn’t shared the floor with this version of the team.
Then came the preseason opener.
In the first quarter of Philadelphia’s game against the Knicks, Ariel Hukporti suffered a torn Achilles that will end his season. The Sixers brought him in in free agency to be the third center in Nick Nurse’s rotation, but that plan disappeared almost immediately.
With Hukporti out, all three centers behind Embiid are hurt if Tacko Fall is included on a two-way contract. Right now, Philadelphia does not have a true backup for one of the league’s most injury-prone big men.
That doesn’t mean the sky is falling. But it does mean the Sixers have a real problem on their hands, because Embiid is going to miss games.
That’s been the reality for years now, with load management and back-to-backs forcing him out of the lineup. When that happens, the team needs more than just a fill-in starter.
It needs a workable center rotation once that replacement goes to the bench.
That’s where the current mess gets even messier. Bona and Hukporti had given the Sixers a solid-looking combination entering camp, but one is now done for the year and the other is dealing with an injury.
And there’s no easy fix waiting on the open market. Philadelphia has just $1.8 million to spend before it hits the hard cap of the first apron, which is not enough to sign a veteran-minimum player.
That changes in December, when vet minimum deals count less against the cap, but until then the Sixers have to make do with what’s already in the building.
So Nurse is reaching for unconventional answers.
Asked Wednesday about the center shortage, he floated small-ball options that would include Dominic Barlow at 6'9", Jabari Walker at 6'7", Dean Wade at 6'9" and even LeBron James at 6'8". “We’ll probably go with that crew unless something else emerges” pic.twitter.com/KuJj2AWH3i
Using a smaller lineup for short stretches is one thing. Having to lean on it because the traditional bigs are hurt is another.
Most teams around the league are rolling out multiple 7-footers, and that’s not exactly the environment the Sixers envisioned when they put this roster together. It also probably isn’t what LeBron wants at 41 years old, especially with more NBA mileage on his body than anyone in league history.
Even if James never actually plays that role, just hearing his name come up tells you where Philadelphia stands. A 6'9" center can be a useful tactical wrinkle. It’s a much different story when injuries push you into that option out of necessity.
And if Embiid ends up missing extended time, which he has in each of the last three seasons, then the issue gets a lot bigger. That isn’t the situation right now, but it is the kind of problem hanging over the 76ers as they head into what already looks like the franchise’s most pressure-packed season in years.
In Other News...
Joel Embiid Got Pulled Into A Strange LeBron Rumor Fast
The 76ers preseason opener briefly turned into an odd side story when broadcaster Mike Breen said he had heard Joel Embiid was a few minutes late to a recent practice and was confronted by LeBron James. It was the kind of stray detail that can take on a life of its own in October, especially when it involves one of the leagues biggest names and a Philadelphia star already under a bright spotlight as the team starts laying groundwork for the season ahead.
LeBron James later shut the report down on social media, saying Embiid had not been late. So the rumor did not linger long, but it still added a strange wrinkle to a night meant to be about the 76ers getting back into game mode. Philadelphia now moves on to the rest of its preseason schedule and, eventually, the start of the 2026-27 regular season with the usual attention on Embiid and everything that follows him. [Read more 🡒]
Sixers May Have A Low-Risk Answer To Their New Frontcourt Problem
The Clippers decision to waive two-way center Jamarion Sharp has put a familiar kind of low-cost big man on the market at exactly the moment the Sixers need one. Philadelphia has an open two-way roster spot, and with Ariel Hukporti injured, frontcourt depth has become a more immediate concern than it was just a few days ago.
Sharp brings a profile the Sixers could find appealing: a 7-foot-5 developmental center with strong defensive numbers in the G League and the sort of rim protection that can at least help stabilize minutes in a pinch. The question now is whether Philadelphia sees enough upside to use that two-way slot on another project, or whether it keeps looking for a more ready-made answer to its frontcourt problem. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Love Is Giving The 76ers A Roster Problem They'd Love
Caleb Love arrived in Philadelphia on a two-way deal, but he has already started making that arrangement feel temporary. After a solid rookie season with the Portland Trail Blazers, where he carved out a real rotation role, Love has carried that momentum into camp and looked like a player who belongs in a bigger conversation. In a recent preseason game, he put up 15 points and added contributions across the board, giving the Sixers another guard option with some two-way versatility.
For a team that is always balancing immediate expectations with long-term roster flexibility, that kind of production creates a good problem. Love has shown enough early to make the Sixers think about whether his role should grow if this keeps up, and whether a standard NBA contract might become the natural next step. For now, Philadelphia gets to keep evaluating, but the early returns are making it harder to treat him like just another depth piece. [Read more 🡒]