Per Shams Charania, 2023 MVP Joel Embiid has signed a three-year, $193 million contract extension with the Philadelphia 76ers, which will be among the richest contract extensions in NBA history. Embiid’s massive extension will be effective from the 2026-27 season and there will be a player option for the 2028-29 season.
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Stephen A. Smith believes Embiid has earned every dollar of this contract extension. There have been some reservations about the 30-year-old’s market valuation since Embiid missed 43 games during the 2023-24 season and has often been injury-prone.
Apart from that, he has also received criticism for limited playoff success during his tenure in Philly. However, Smith didn’t seem to mind all that on Embiid’s big payday.
On ESPN’s First Take, SAS downplayed his injury issues, labeling the 76ers Center as one of the best Centers in the history of the NBA. He pointed out that when healthy, Embiid is unstoppable on the offensive end.
Stephen A. Smith also pointed to Embiid’s incredible 2024 playoffs performances despite battling a serious knee injury.
In their first-round series loss to the Knicks, the Philly Center tallied 33 points, 10.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game including a 50-point masterpiece in the 11-point Game 4 win. Smith, therefore, said,
“He [Embiid] deserves every penny. He is a bona fide superstar in this league whose only derailment is health. I watched this man average 35 [33 points] against the Knicks on one leg, on one leg, he is that gifted.”
“You can literally put Joel Embiid in the argument on talent, one of the most gifted big men to ever play the game of basketball on the planet Earth. I’m happy for him, he deserved this money.”
Smith’s assessment of Joel Embiid makes sense. He won the MVP award during the 2022-23 season and would have had three scoring titles in a row if he hadn’t missed more than half of the games last season.
His current contract extension is in line with what NBA superstars are expected to earn these days.
A breakdown of Joel Embiid’s contract
Embiid signed his previous extension in August 2021, when he inked a four-year/$196 million extension effective from the 2023-24 season. Last season, he earned a base salary of around $47 million.
He will earn around $55 million during the next season from his previous extension.
Meanwhile, the first year of his newly signed 3-year, $193 million extension will replace the last year of his previous extension, but will carry a similar value of around $59.5 million.
After adding the two remaining years from his latest extension, Embiid is set to earn around $300 million over the next five years.
As of now, he is the only player with such contract valuation in the next five years apart from Jayson Tatum, who recently signed a five-year/$314 extension, effective from the 2025-26 season.
At any rate, there is a belief that Embiid doesn’t deserve this extension. The criticism stems from his inability to carry the 76ers past the second round in the playoffs. And as he will enter his 30s, he may be injured more often.
However, his current extension is in line with his accomplishments as an individual player. As a perennial MVP candidate, such a max contract was always on the cards for him.
