Joel Embiid just signed a three-year, $193 million maximum extension with the Philadelphia 76ers, keeping him with the franchise until his player option for the 2028-29 season. Embiid’s revised contract is worth $300 million over the next five seasons and officially brings him into an exclusive list of five players to have earned over $500 million through NBA contracts in their careers, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
With $515 million in guaranteed NBA contracts, Embiid joins LeBron James ($584 Million), Stephen Curry ($536 million), Paul George ($519 Million), and Kevin Durant ($505 Million) as the only member of the $500 million contract club. Players such as Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are expected to join this club with their next supermax contract extension, but Embiid is the fifth player to enter this list.
Here is the breakdown of the Joel Embiid extension
Embiid now has $299.5M in salary over the next 5 years pic.twitter.com/Fzvq8g5dNi
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) September 20, 2024
Embiid averaged 34.7 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 5.6 assists last season, playing just 39 games due to injury. The 76ers went 31-8 in the games that he played, showing that his impact on the floor was even greater than what many expected. If he can’t stay healthy, this contract could become a problem for the 76ers long-term as Embiid is a 30-year-old center with bad knees already.
There’s no doubt over Embiid’s status as a top-five player in the NBA right now, if not higher, but there’ll always be concerns over his long-term durability. The 76ers had no choice but to reward the 2022-23 league MVP with this supermax extension, but they’ll hope to bring the city their first NBA Championship since 1984 before the tail-end of this contract.
The Philadelphia 76ers Are All-In On Joel Embiid
This contract extension shows that the 76ers don’t want to doubt the caliber of superstar Joel Embiid. Everyone’s seen him be a monster on the court over the last few seasons when healthy, but the issue with Embiid is that his health isn’t consistent. Health issues have led to Embiid having the dubious distinction of being the only league MVP in history to have never made it to the Conference Finals.
With Embiid joining the list of players to have earned over $500 million in contracts, it’s important to note that three of those players are generational icons and multi-time champions. The two players who don’t have such accolades to their name are Embiid and teammate Paul George, with both motivated to prove their doubters wrong.
The 76ers went all-in on Embiid this summer by spending major money to sign the likes of Paul George and Caleb Martin, alongside re-signing Tyrese Maxey to a max contract as well. Daryl Morey and the 76ers will head into next season as contenders, but it’ll be dependent on how well the on-paper roster they’ve assembled this summer translates on the court.
Embiid’s injury issues are the only thing that can make this contract a bad contract for the 76ers. Nobody questions if Embiid is a perennial MVP-level player, but everybody does question if Embiid will be at his 100% when the Playoffs start in April. If he struggles to stay healthy another season, the 76ers might start sweating about the value of this contract.
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