The Philadelphia 76ers have committed to seeing the Joel Embiid era through to the end. 10 years after The Process first began, Embiid has been signed to a contract extension that will take him through what are expected to be the remaining years of his prime.
With a championship-or-bust mentality and a Big Three that has positioned Philadelphia to achieve its lofty goals, the 76ers are going all-in on the current core.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that Embiid has signed a three-year, $193 million contract extension with Philadelphia. The deal will include a player option for the 2018-19 campaign and an average annual salary that will exceed $60 million.
The full contract details reveal just how much Embiid will make moving forward, including a near $70 million salary for the season during which he'll turn 35 years of age.
Joel Embiid's contract details prove it's all-in on the Big Three
The next two seasons will be paid at the rate of Embiid's current contract, with the extension kicking in for the 2026-27 campaign. That buys the 76ers some semblance of time to make roster additions around him, although the presence of three max-level players has already decreased the odds of such transpiring.
Bobby Marks of ESPN provided a full breakdown of Embiid's current contract and the figures he's due to make once the extension kicks in—and the salaries are astonishing.
Season | Salary |
|---|---|
2024-25 | $51.4 million |
2025-26 | $55.2 million |
2026-27 | $59.5 million |
2027-28 | $64.3 million |
2028-29 | $69.1 million (Player Option) |
For as incredible as those salaries are, the reality of Embiid's contract is that the season-to-season increases maintain a steady pace. His salary will jump $3.8 million between 2024-25 and 2025-26, and the increase won't be too far off that pace once his extension kicks in with a $4.3 million increase from 2025-26 to 2026-27.
The numbers themselves are nothing short of breathtaking, but the season-by-season salary increases remain par for the course for an MVP.
Furthermore, the true motive here appears to be providing the new Big Three with a sustainable opportunity to build something special. Embiid, Paul George, and Maxey are all signed through 2026-27, with George—the newcomer and the oldest of the three—the only star who has a player option for 2027-28.
Embiid will then have a player option for 2028-29, while fellow drafted franchise player Maxey won't be a free agent until 2029.
There's no denying the risk involved with going all-in on a 30-year-old center who has battled injuries throughout his career. The moment George was signed to a four-year deal, however, the 76ers sealed their fate when it came to extending Embiid.
Doing so now, rather than in 2026 when he would've been eligible for an even higher annual salary due to the increasing cap, saves the 76ers money in the long-term—no matter how risky it is in the interim.