Standout rookie center Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers agreed to a designated rookie scale max extension of five years worth $146.5 million, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Embiid’s injuries have limited him to just 31 games over three NBA seasons.
Joel Embiid to sign 5-year, $146.5 million contract with 76ers after playing 31 games
Embiid would have won Rookie of the Year by a landslide had he stayed on the court.
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
The deal could be worth as much as $178 million if he meets all of his incentives, according to Wojnarowski. But Embiid’s contract is only guaranteed for $84.2 million should he fall within in a small range of injury circumstances.
For the Sixers to be able to waive him and hold onto any of their money, Embiid would have to miss at least 25 games due to injury while playing fewer than 1,650 minutes in any one of the four seasons between 2018-19 and 2022-23. The injury would have to be one both he and Philadelphia agreed on, according to Wojnarowksi, which would include injuries to his foot and back — body parts that have caused him to miss time in the past.
“There’s a belief that he’d have to suffer a career-ending injury to inspire the 76ers to release him,” Wojnarowski wrote.
If Embiid misses 25 games and plays fewer than 1,650 minutes in the 2018-19 season, the 76ers could waive him and be on the hook for only $84 million of his $146.5 millon guarantee. That amount increases to $98.2 million after the 2019-20 season, $113.3 million after the 2020-21 season, and $129.4 million after the 2021-22 season.
The mercurial Sixers big man was an adrenaline shot to a struggling Philadelphia franchise, averaging 20 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks on 36.7 percent three-point shooting. He became the only rookie since Wilt Chamberlain to average at least 28.7 points per 36 minutes, leading the 76ers to a 28-54 record, their highest win total since the 2012-13 season.
But the deal is still a gamble for Philadelphia
The 76ers took Embiid No. 3 overall in 2014 after he suffered a stress fracture in his right foot that required surgery. As a precautionary measure, Philadelphia sat him the entire 2014-15 season. But Embiid re-broke the same bone in his right foot the following offseason, which prompted 76ers management to sideline him for a second straight season.
The dominant, two-way big man didn’t make his NBA debut until last season, but even with his game-changing play — blocking shots and finger-wagging on one end before draining threes and scoring in the low block on the other — injuries still remained a concern. Embiid’s official rookie season was cut short after Philly’s medical staff discovered a torn meniscus in his knee after the All-Star break.
Embiid’s talent is not the question. The 76ers’ center has become an outlier in a league that has trended away from traditional big men. But in handing their injury-riddled big man a massive contract — partial guarantees and all — Philadelphia is doubling down on Embiid’s availability for years to come.
That’s why his extension, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, has been described as “perhaps the most complex” NBA contract ever: because the 76ers will hit a home run if he stays healthy, but they’ll strike out if he can’t play.
Here’s to hoping we see more Joel Embiid in the future.
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