July 01, 2026
Kevin Barrett/for PhillyVoice
Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey has made his first signing.
Dean Wade's four-year contract with the Sixers has a starting salary of exactly $9,000,000 in the 2026-27 season, a source told PhillyVoice on Wednesday, with five-percent annual raises.
That means Wade's deal – initially reported as a four-year, $39 million agreement – has a maximum value of $38,700,000. The Stein Line and HoopsHype each reported that the salary in the final year of the deal has a partial guarantee; the exact size of that guarantee is unclear as of this writing.
Here is the salary structure of Wade's four-year deal:
| Year | Dean Wade salary |
| 2026-27 | $9,000,000 |
| 2027-28 | $9,450,000 |
| 2028-29 | $9,900,000 |
| 2029-30 | $10,350,000 (partially guaranteed) |
| Total | $38,700,000 |
On Wednesday morning, the team reportedly agreed to a one-year, $3.4 million contract with 24-year-old center Ariel Hukporti, marking Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey's second external addition.
Given its size and length, the Wade signing must come out of the non-taxpayer's mid-level exception. And because they have accessed full mid-level, the Sixers are now hard-capped at the first apron for the entire 2026-27 league year. Under no circumstances can they exceed that threshold of just over $209 million.
With 13 players under contract – including Wade and Hukporti – the Sixers have $13,278,514 in breathing room below that hard cap, which will not just govern the remainder of their summer but the entire season ahead. They are $4,691,514 below the luxury tax threshold, which they could surpass this summer but will likely not do by more than a slim margin in order to ensure there is a pathway back under it by the trade deadline. The Sixers can also save about $135 thousand by waiving Dalen Terry's non-guaranteed salary and replacing him with a veteran's minimum deal – whether that means simply re-signing Terry himself or finding a different piece.
The Sixers may keep things simple from here on out by filling out their roster with veteran's minimum contracts. Depending on whether they want to carry a 14-player roster or a 15-player roster, they could start the season just under or just over the tax line if they go down that path. But their depth would arguably be even more troubling than it was in 2025-26.
While there will not be any major fireworks from Gansey and his front office, the Sixers have a few avenues to add salary as they inch closer to that hard cap at the first apron:
NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect Kelly Oubre Jr. leaving the Sixers to join the Indiana Pacers.
MORE: When will Gansey take his first big swing?
Which exception will the Sixers use to sign Hukporti's contract? The answer to this question will determine exactly how much money the Sixers have to spend, and the reality is that even the Sixers probably do not know quite yet.
With Wade locked in at a starting salary of exactly $9 million and Hukporti reportedly having agreed to a salary of $3.4 million, Sixers' mid-level exception would only have $2,644,000 remaining if Hukporti's contract goes into that.
That $2.6 million figure is barely more than a veteran's minimum salary slot, so if Hukporti goes into the mid-level, the Sixers' only use for that leftover money this summer would be acquiring a very small salary in a trade. A more likely use of it would come during the season – perhaps if the Sixers have a standout two-way player they want to sign on a long-term standard deal.
It would free up the Sixers to use the bi-annual exception, which starts at just under $5.5 million, with a maximum offer of two years and a bit more than $11.2 million. The bi-annual can be used in free agency or via trade. It would not put them particularly close to their hard cap at the first apron (Kelly Oubre Jr. departing just about ensures the Sixers will not seriously threaten that number).
The exact offer looks like this:
| Year | Salary |
| 2026-27 | $5,477,000 |
| 2027-28 | $5,750,850 |
| Total | $11,227,850 |
Another option for the Sixers if they want to add another contributor – given Oubre and Quentin Grimes have both left, they likely should: slotting Hukporti into the bi-annual, which would free up more money in their mid-level exception.
Should Hukporti's deal become a bi-annual signing, the Sixers would have $6,044,000 of room to work with from their mid-level. That is not just an increase of over $500 thousand in terms of the starting salary of a potential offer relative to the bi-annual, it would also allow the Sixers to make a three- or four-year offer to a player, not just a one- or two-year deal. It can also be used as a trade exception.
The Sixers making a trade using the tiny remaining portion of their mid-level seems especially unlikely because the Sixers have a true trade exception available to them – two of them, actually, but one is much more significant than the other. February's trade of Jared McCain generated a TPE which will allow the Sixers to absorb up to $4,471,360 in salary via trade (without needing to send any players out).
Two players stand out as fitting into not just this trade exception, but also the roster the Sixers already have in place:
• Taurean Prince picked up his $3,815,861 player option with the Milwaukee Bucks. As his team pivots to a youth movement in the wake of Giannis Antetokounmpo's exit, there is little use for him there. Prince is a sturdy wing with a long track record of knocking down spot-up three-point shots and could likely be had for little to no cost.
• Justin Champagnie is a terrific offensive rebounder and just fine enough at everything else to fit into the back end of a wing rotation in the NBA. He is under contract for only $2,667,944 next season (non-guaranteed salary) and has a non-guaranteed team option worth just over $3 million for the 2027-28 season.
For more on potential free-agency and trade targets in all of these price ranges, PhillyVoice's Sixers free agency primer has a comprehensive list of candidates, categorized by price.
2026 SIXERS FREE AGENCY PRIMER
SALARY CAP DETAILS | TRADE TARGETS | FREE AGENTS
