Injuries (fantasy)
Preseason injury bug: Hukporti done for the year, Nurkić and Strus out a month
Sixers backup center Ariel Hukporti ruptured his right Achilles less than five minutes into the opener against the Knicks and will miss the whole season. Philadelphia is $1.83M under the first apron and can't add a minimum veteran until December. Utah's Jusuf Nurkić has a partial plantar plate tear in his right second toe and is out at least four weeks. The Clippers' Max Strus has a partial plantar fascia tear in his right foot and will be re-evaluated in four weeks, so his debut is early November at the earliest.
Return timeline
OctNovOpening nightToday
Ariel Hukporti PHIRuptured right Achilles
OutOut for the season
Jusuf Nurkić UTAPartial plantar plate tear, right toe
Wed, Nov 4Out at least 4 weeks
Max Strus LACPartial plantar fascia tear, right foot
Mon, Nov 2Re-evaluated in 4 weeks
Bars run from the injury to the expected return or re-evaluation date.
Fantasy angleNurkić is out of the start of the season, which helps Jaxson Hayes, Kyle Filipowski and possibly Jaren Jackson Jr. at center. The Sixers are thin behind Embiid (Bona has a foot sprain), so LeBron could see small-ball minutes at center.
