After Hukporti's Achilles Tear, 7-Foot-6 Tacko Fall Gets Philly's Final Two-Way Spot

Photo: NBA.com. Tacko Fall, official league headshot.

Tacko Fall has not played a minute of preseason basketball for Philadelphia, and the 76ers just gave him their last two-way contract anyway. The 7-foot-6 center's Exhibit 10 camp deal is being converted, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Saturday, which puts Fall in line for his fourth NBA season and up to 50 regular season games with the Sixers.

The Athletic's Tony Jones reported the same deal minutes later and added that Fall played well in camp before the hip strain and made a real impact in the locker room.

Two weeks, four centers down

Go back to Oct. 5. Ariel Hukporti, signed for $3.4 million in July to back up Joel Embiid, tore his right Achilles less than five minutes into the preseason opener against the Knicks. The team announced the next day that he will miss the 2026-27 season. Fall had already strained his left hip on the second day of camp, and the MRI put him on a two-week re-evaluation clock.

The rest of the list never cleared. Adem Bona sat the entire preseason with a left foot sprain. Nick Nurse said Friday that Bona has moved well in practice but is "not completely pain-free yet," per Sixers Wire. Dominick Barlow missed the exhibition slate with a back injury. Friday's 125-120 overtime loss to Boston, the preseason finale, had Bona, Barlow, Hukporti and Fall all in street clothes, and the Celtics finished with 18 offensive rebounds to Philadelphia's five, NBC Sports Philadelphia noted.

Philadelphia also has Embiid's availability to plan around: he has missed 150 regular season games over the last three seasons, about 61% of the schedule, per ClutchPoints.

The apron math

The Sixers have 14 players on standard deals and an open roster spot, but they used the full mid-level exception this summer and are hard-capped at the first apron. They sat about $1.8 million under that line when Hukporti went down, and ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel reported that even a minimum signing to the 15th spot would push them over it. The two-way slot next to Caleb Love and Rayan Rupert was the opening that didn't touch the apron math, and Siegel named Fall as a candidate for it that same day.

What 7-foot-6 buys

Fall's NBA sample is 37 regular season games for Boston and Cleveland from 2019 to 2022. Hoops Rumors lists 90 rebounds and 30 blocks in 228 total minutes. The same report says his offensive game is limited and he isn't especially mobile on defense. Since Cleveland waived him in 2022, he has played in China and spent time with the New Zealand Breakers in Australia's NBL.

As a two-way player, Fall can appear in up to 50 regular season games, per Hoops Rumors. The rest of his time goes to the Delaware Blue Coats, Philadelphia's G League team.

The Garden on Tuesday

The regular season opens Oct. 20 at Madison Square Garden against the defending champion Knicks, per NBC Sports Philadelphia, and Andre Drummond is on the New York side. RotoWire lists Fall as questionable with the hip and an estimated return of Oct. 20. The same NBC Sports Philadelphia recap called Jabari Walker and Dean Wade alternative center options, though neither is the Sixers' Plan A at the five.

Fall called the camp invite "an opportunity of a lifetime that I shall not waste" when he signed in September, via Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson. He still has to get the hip right.

Sources

• ESPN, Shams Charania on X: 76ers signing Tacko Fall to a two-way contract, converting his Exhibit 10 deal, fourth NBA season. Oct. 17, 2026.
• The Athletic, Tony Jones on X: Fall gets the final two-way spot, played well before the hip strain, locker room impact. Oct. 17, 2026.
• Hoops Rumors: Sixers sign Tacko Fall, two others to Exhibit 10 contracts (37 games 2019-22, 90 rebounds and 30 blocks in 228 minutes, China and New Zealand Breakers stints, open two-way slot next to Rupert and Love). Sept. 1, 2026.
• ClutchPoints, Brett Siegel: Hukporti torn Achilles, $3.4 million deal, Embiid 150 games missed, $1.8 million below the first apron, minimum signing would exceed it, Fall named for the two-way. Oct. 6, 2026.
• Brett Siegel on X: 76ers used their full mid-level exception and are hard-capped at the first apron. Oct. 6, 2026.
• Hoops Rumors: two-way contracts cover up to 50 NBA regular season games. Oct. 17, 2026.
• The Sixer Sense: Fall hurt on the second day of camp, MRI showed a left hip strain, two-week re-evaluation.
• Sixers Wire via Yahoo Sports: Nurse on Bona, "not completely pain-free yet". Oct. 16, 2026.
• NBC Sports Philadelphia: Celtics 125, Sixers 120 (OT) preseason finale, inactives, 18-5 offensive rebounds, defending champion Knicks at MSG on Oct. 20, Drummond facing Bona, Walker and Wade as alternative center options. Oct. 16, 2026.
• RotoWire: Fall (hip) doesn't play Friday, questionable, estimated return Oct. 20. Oct. 16, 2026.
• Yahoo Sports: Fall on the Sixers deal, "an opportunity of a lifetime that I shall not waste", 11 games with Cleveland in 2021-22. Sept. 2, 2026.
• Earlier on The Dyme: Ariel Hukporti's Torn Right Achilles Ends His 2026-27 Season After One Exhibition