dpAfter spending his first two NBA seasons with the Knicks, center Ariel Hukporti has agreed to sign a one-year, $3.4MM contract with the Sixers, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Hukporti, 24, played sparingly for the Knicks as a rookie in 2024/25 after being drafted with the 58th overall pick but saw a little more action under new head coach Mike Brown this past season.
The seven-foot German, whom Charania describes as an athletic player with a high motor, appeared in 54 games, starting five, and averaged 2.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 9.2 minutes per night. He also made 10 postseason appearances for New York, including in Games 4 and 5 of the NBA Finals.
The Knicks had the option of tendering Hukporti a qualifying offer ahead of Monday’s deadline. That offer would be worth roughly $2.65MM and would have made the big man a restricted free agent.
However, New York, focused on remaining below the second tax apron, opted not to issue that QO, allowing Hukporti to become an unrestricted free agent and to sign outright with Philadelphia. Based on the reported terms of his agreement, he’ll be getting more than his minimum salary, which would be around $2.45MM.
The 76ers are expected to use a portion of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception to complete a four-year contract with free agent forward Dean Wade, but they’ll have more that enough left over to fit Hukporti into the MLE too. Using the bi-annual exception would also be an option, though that seems less likely at this point.
Hukporti is expected to get the opportunity to compete for backup minutes behind Joel Embiid at the five this fall, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. With Adem Bona also likely to be in the mix for that role, this deal may signal that Andre Drummond‘s time with the Sixers is coming to an end.
As cap expert Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron tweets, based on their reported deals, the Sixers are projected to be $4.6MM below the luxury tax line and $13.2MM below their first-apron hard cap with 13 players under contract. It’s unclear if they intend to go into the tax – perhaps by re-signing Kelly Oubre Jr. – or if the plan is to remain below that threshold.
Hukporti will be eligible for restricted free agency again in 2027.
