Looking back at the Sixers and their backup center problems

Stop me if you’ve heard this before — the Sixers may have problems this season in the front court when Joel Embiid doesn’t play.

In this case, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. One of Mike Gansey’s ancillary moves this summer was to bring in Ariel Hukporti on a one-year contract. At 24 years old, he was a much younger option behind Embiid than Andre Drummond, who ironically signed with Hukporti’s former team, the New York Knicks. Gansey was betting on Hukporti ascending and being a useful 10-15 minute per game guy on nights Embiid played and a viable starter for games Embiid was resting in. Well, now Hukporti is out for the season with a torn Achilles, and it’s back to the drawing board once again for the Sixers when it comes to an Embiid backup.

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When we evaluate why this problem has persisted, we ask the question, can the Sixers truly do better here or are they always going to have a revolving door of backup big men while they have so much money tied up into their starting lineup? Let’s start with Drummond, their most recent attempt at solving this problem before Hukporti and work our way back to the earlier stages of Embiid’s career.

In Drummond’s case, a player in his 30s who had a history with the Sixers prior to his most recent contract and was still a solid rebounder in a bench role was probably a safe bet. Last season, Drummond finished out a two-year, $10 million contract and had some moments for Philly in the postseason. After all, he did do enough for the defending champion Knicks to bring him in as Hukporti’s replacement. Now, Drummond wasn’t always lighting the world on fire, but relative to some of the other efforts the Sixers have put forth as an Embiid backup, it’s safe to say Drummond was a worthwhile investment.

There have been some other options in recent years that have been used as centers as well. Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker have seen action there in smaller lineups, Adem Bona has certainly played some 5 and Guerschon Yabusele saw plenty of frontcourt minutes during the lost 2024-25 season. You can probably look at all four of these guys and have four different…

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Publish date : 2026-10-15 19:34:00

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