Sixers apply for disabled player exception

The Sixers can’t get center Ariel Hukporti back this season. They’re hoping his injury will at least give them another way to bring in some help.

Philadelphia has applied for a disabled player exception following Hukporti’s season-ending Achilles tear, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report and The Stein Line. Hukporti suffered the injury in his preseason debut and subsequently underwent surgery.

If approved, the exception would be worth about $1.7 million, or half of Hukporti’s $3.4 million salary.

That isn’t enough to go shopping for a major addition. But later in the season, it could give the Sixers something useful to offer a player looking for a new home.

As Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors explains, the exception could become particularly helpful on the buyout market, when $1.7 million would exceed a prorated veteran’s minimum contract.

There are restrictions. The exception doesn’t create an additional roster spot, and Philadelphia could only use it to sign a free agent for the remainder of the season or acquire a player in the final year of his contract.

The Sixers also remain subject to their first-apron hard cap. They currently have about $1.83 million in room below that limit, per Adams, meaning another roster move could reduce how much of the exception they could actually spend.

So this is more about giving the front office another option than signaling an imminent signing. With Philadelphia already dealing with a thin frontcourt, another option certainly wouldn’t hurt.