Joel Embiid is In-Line to Get Contract Extension

The Philadelphia 76ers are getting prepared to offer rookie center Joel Embiid a contract extension according to NBA rumors.

The Philadelphia 76ers season effectively came to an end on Wednesday afternoon when the team announced in a press release that Joel Embiid would miss the remainder of the year due to an increasingly troubling injury stemming from his slight meniscus tear.

The team indicated that the bone bruise Embiid was suffering from was better, but also indicated that the meniscus tear was worse than initially thought. Whether that means it is torn more or simply just more troublesome is unclear.

So, with that in mind, prepare for some awful, awful basketball. The Sixers’ 125-98 loss on that same night of the Embiid announcement to the Miami Heat was a great preview of what’s to come.

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Keith Pompey, in his report of the injury being worse, had an interesting tidbit about Embiid and the Sixers’ relationship moving forward. Pompey reported that all the indications he’s receiving make him believe that Embiid will, “receive a lucrative contract extension,” before next October.

"All indications are that he’ll receive a lucrative contract extension before the deadline in October. Embiid is eligible for a four-year extension that starts at 25 percent of the team’s salary cap with a 7.5 percent raise. Right now the salary cap for the 2018-19 season is $107 million."

This is interesting, especially considering that this comes immediately after the injury to Embiid. You would think that the sentiment regarding the Sixers and who they want to invest in would be a bit cautious with a player who has played just 31 games of the possible 223 at the time of the article’s publishing. That said, it really speaks to how important and how big Embiid is for the Sixers.

Additionally, the Sixers are not getting a true rookie deal out of him. Embiid missed his first two seasons, and his contract expires after next year. They paid him for the first two years, and missed out on getting his play for those years because they were busy rehabbing him and his broken navicular bone in his foot.

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That said, that rebuilding time may have been more important than playing for Embiid. He was able to come onto the floor this year and do incredible things right away because of how well the team built him up. Saying which is better — him playing the first two seasons or sitting out — is impossible, and is a never-ending debate.

Embiid is scheduled to make just over $6 million next season in the final year of his rookie deal. The team can save money by signing him to an extension rather than dealing with him in the open market. They can also have more peace of mind locking him up before the season gets far underway.

While it’s obvious that the Sixers would be in the market to extend Embiid, they have to be certain he wants to come back, and there’s no sign that he is planning on leaving. He’s a great player, and could probably gather attention in whatever city he wanted in the open market. That said, the trials and tribulations Embiid went through in his first two seasons of his career, and the way the people in the Sixers organization helped him, and the way the fans stuck by him, those things will all add up and likely incentivize Embiid to stay in this city.

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It might be a bit dangerous to offer a player who has gathered Greg Oden comparisons so early on in his career big money, but that’s just how good Embiid showed he was in limited minutes.