Simons, Barlow and Bona to miss Sixers’ next two preseason games

Philadelphia will be without Anfernee Simons, Dominick Barlow and Adem Bona for its next two preseason games, extending the short-handed stretch around a center rotation already affected by Ariel Hukporti’s Achilles injury.

A team official told NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Noah Levick on Wednesday that all three would miss Thursday’s road game against Brooklyn and Saturday’s visit to Boston. Simons has a hamstring issue, Barlow a back injury and Bona a left foot sprain. Bona has resumed on-court activity during his rehabilitation, but that progress has not cleared him for either exhibition.

The two-game absence is a firmer update than the outlook coach Nick Nurse offered Monday, when he described Barlow and Simons’ injuries as minor and suggested they could play soon. Philadelphia still has three preseason games remaining after its opening win over New York. The immediate problem is how to divide those preparation minutes while several players remain unavailable.

Hukporti underwent surgery Tuesday for a torn right Achilles tendon. Nurse’s Wednesday media session made clear that the loss reaches beyond the available minutes: the staff had been encouraged by the young center’s activity, athleticism and willingness to learn. The injury interrupts the development of a player the coaches believed was progressing.

Nurse has several options at center

Nurse identified Dean Wade and LeBron James as additional candidates to play center, alongside the alternatives already available within the roster. James has experience in small lineups at that position; Nurse said Wade has enough size that he would not necessarily describe him as a small center. His preference was to work with the current group unless another option emerged.

That leaves the exhibitions useful for testing combinations even without every traditional center available. Levick noted that Barlow and Jabari Walker had occasional center assignments last season. With Bona still rehabilitating and Hukporti recovering from surgery, those possibilities are part of Philadelphia’s preparation rather than a settled regular-season depth chart.

Nurse also expected most of the remaining players to be available in Brooklyn, but he attached a condition: the team needed to see how they responded to a physical Wednesday practice. That expectation did not amount to a confirmed lineup or an unrestricted workload.

His plan was to build the veterans’ appearances gradually, beginning with first-half work and, if possible in a later exhibition, adding the challenge of returning after halftime. Philadelphia opens its regular season October 20.

The next two games therefore offer two different tests: giving available players enough contact and shared court time to prepare, and finding workable frontcourt combinations while Simons, Barlow and Bona remain out. Wednesday’s update establishes their exhibition absences without supplying a regular-season return date.