Source: Ariel Hukporti agrees to sign one-year contract with Sixers
Hukporti, an athletic 7-footer, played his first two NBA seasons with the New York Knicks, averaging 2.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 9.2 minutes across 54 regular-season games in 2025-26.
Ariel Hukporti has agreed to a one-year, $3.4 million contract with the 76ers, The Inquirer confirmed Wednesday morning.
The move gives the Sixers a new option at backup center behind Joel Embiid, the former NBA Most Valuable Player who has struggled with numerous health issues in recent seasons.
Veteran Andre Drummond, now an unrestricted free agent, and Adem Bona, whose $2.3 million salary for 2026-27 becomes fully guaranteed July 7, saw their roles fluctuate last season.
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Hukporti, an athletic 7-footer, played his first two NBA seasons with the New York Knicks. He averaged 2.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 9.2 minutes across 54 regular-season games in 2025-26, primarily as the third-team center. The 24-year-old only logged spot minutes during the Knicks’ playoff run to the championship, primarily when big men Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson got in foul trouble.
Hukporti joins forward Dean Wade as free agents who are set to join the Sixers for the 2026-27 season. Drummond, starting forward Kelly Oubre Jr., sixth man Quentin Grimes, and reserve guard Kyle Lowry (who is expected to retire) remain unsigned by the Sixers or another team with the first full day of free-agency negotiation underway.
Hukporti’s salary comes out of the nontaxpayer midlevel exception, giving the Sixers $2.6 remaining from that to use on an outside player. They also have the $5.5 biannual exception.
