Add a few more years to the Sixers' longest-tenured contract.
Superstar center Joel Embiid has signed a three-year, approximately $192.9 million extension with the team that runs through the 2028-29 season, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported Friday morning. The final season of Embiid's extension has a player option, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.
The seven-time All-Star is set to make approximately $51.4 million in the 2024-25 season and $55.2 million in 2025-26, according to Spotrac. The extension will start in the 2026-27 campaign.
The Sixers later officially announced that Embiid signed a “multi-year” extension.
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“I started a Sixer and want to be right here for the rest of my career. I had no idea when I was drafted as a 20-year-old kid from Cameroon how lucky I was to be in Philadelphia,” Embiid said in a team press release. “Through all the ups and downs, this city and the fans have been everything, and I am so grateful for how they’ve embraced me. I want to thank (managing partners Josh Harris and David Blitzer) and the entire organization. Philadelphia is home and it’s time to bring this community an NBA championship.”
Embiid has often been in the spotlight for the Sixers since the franchise drafted him with the No. 3 pick a decade ago. In a familiar story, his availability dictated much of the team’s fortunes last season. The Sixers went 31-8 in games Embiid played and 16-27 in games he didn’t.
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After being named NBA MVP for the 2022-23 season, Embiid looked substantially more dominant for stretches last year and scored a Sixers-record 70 points vs. the Spurs on Jan. 22. He averaged 34.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists in his first season with head coach Nick Nurse.
However, Embiid was sidelined on his 30th birthday in March as he rehabbed from a left lateral meniscus injury. While he returned late in the regular season, Embiid had semi-regular injury scares and also dealt with Bell’s palsy during the playoffs. He still managed to post 33.0 points, 10.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game over the Sixers’ first-round series loss to the Knicks.
“Just got to find a way to get better as a basketball player, as a person, as a leader and come back and hope that everything else aligns,” Embiid said following the Sixers’ Game 6 defeat.
One major star did align for the Sixers this offseason in the form of Paul George, who decided to join Embiid and 23-year-old All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey in Philadelphia. The Sixers will hope George can lessen the burden on Embiid and Maxey to create shots and summon late-game heroics.
Embiid, who took home a gold medal from the Paris Olympics this summer as part of Team USA's men's basketball squad, will start his first training camp with George on Oct. 1 in the Bahamas.
