The Philadelphia 76ers have signed former Auburn forward Chuma Okeke to a 10-day contract for the second time this season, the NBA team announced on Sunday.
Okeke signed a 10-day deal with the 76ers on Feb. 7. He played in one game while with Philadelphia, getting one rebound in 2:11 of court time during a 125-112 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Feb. 7.
That time, Philadelphia had two openings to fill on its roster after deals at the NBA trade deadline.
This time, the 76ers have a full contingent of 15 players on standard contracts on their roster. Philadelphia could sign Okeke under the NBA’s hardship exemption. That allows teams to bring in extra help when they have multiple players who have missed at least three consecutive games and are expected to remain sidelined for at least two weeks.
Philadelphia has played without guard Jared McCain for the past 43 games, wing Eric Gordon and guard Kyle Lowry for the past 14 games, center Joel Embiid for the past 10 games and forward Paul George for the past six games.
The 76ers signed Okeke from the NBA Gatorade League’s Westchester Knicks, where he had returned after his previous stint with Philadelphia.
In 42 games with Westchester this season, Okeke has averaged 17.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocked shots.
After playing for the Orlando Magic last season, Okeke signed with New York as an unrestricted free agent on Aug. 2, but he was waived by the Knicks on Oct. 19 before the NBA’s 2024-25 season tipped off.
In two seasons at Auburn, Okeke averaged 9.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. In his final game for the Tigers, Okeke had 20 points and 11 rebounds in Auburn’s 97-80 victory over North Carolina when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during an NCAA tournament Round of 16 game on March 29, 2019.
The injury caused Okeke to miss the entire 2019-20 NBA season after being drafted at No. 16 by the Magic.
In the fifth game of his NBA career, Okeke sustained a bone bruise on his left knee and missed 16 games. Then he missed the final 10 games of the 2020-21 season because of a sprained ankle as he played 45 games in that campaign.
After playing in 70 of Orlando’s 82 games in the 2021-22 season, Okeke got into only 27 in the 2022-23 campaign. In December 2022, Okeke underwent a chondroplasty, a surgical procedure to repair cartilage in a joint, on his left knee.
Last season, Okeke averaged 2.3 points and 1.7 rebounds in 9.5 minutes in 47 games for Orlando.
In 190 NBA regular-season games across five seasons, Okeke has averaged 6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.