Joel Embiid has signed a contract extension with the Philadelphia 76ers, the team announced Friday. It's a three-year max deal worth $193 million, as confirmed by CBS Sports NBA insider Bill Reiter. Embiid himself announced the deal in an Instagram post.
"Philadelphia is home," he wrote. "I want to be here for the rest of my career."
He added: "I love this community and everything you've given me and my family. There is a lot more work to do. You guys deserve a championship and I think we're just getting started!"
Embiid and Sixers owner Josh Harris are both quoted in the team's official press release:
"Joel has cemented himself as one of the greatest Sixers of all time and is well on his way to being one of the best players to ever play the game. We're ecstatic that this extension keeps him and his family in Philadelphia for years to come," Managing Partner Josh Harris said. "Joel is a great family man, leader, and person. He is an elite two-way player with a combination of size, strength, and athleticism that this league has rarely – if ever – seen. He is integral to this franchise's quest for another NBA Championship, and we are honored that he continues to choose this organization as his NBA home."
"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. "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 Josh, David [Blitzer], and the entire organization. Philadelphia is home and it's time to bring this community an NBA championship."
The extension runs through the 2028-29 season, at which point Embiid will be 35 years old. There is a player option on the final season, however, per The Athletic's Shams Charania. As part of the deal, Embiid turned down a player option worth $59 million in 2026-27. He will now make an estimated $59.3 million in 2026-27 and $64.3 million in 2027-28, with a player option worth approximately $69.1 million in 2028-29, per ESPN's Bobby Marks, who also noted that this contract will bring his career earnings above $500 million, putting him in an exclusive club that also features LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Paul George and Stephen Curry.
Embiid will make an estimated $299.5 million in the next five years, assuming he picks up that player option.
Last season, Embiid averaged career highs of 34.7 points and 5.6 assists, plus 11.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. The 2023 Most Valuable Player had an even higher usage rate (38.7%) than he did in that MVP season, with only a marginal dip in efficiency, and he made great strides as a passer in his first season under coach Nick Nurse. This summer, he won a gold medal with Team USA at the Olympics in Paris, most notably making several key crunch-time plays against Serbia in an instant-classic semifinals comeback.
Embiid, 30, has been with the Sixers since their front office, at the time led by Sam Hinkie, drafted him No. 3 overall in 2014. He didn't play a single game in his first two years as a professional after multiple surgeries on his injured right foot, but has since gone on to make seven All-Star Games, five All-NBA teams and three All-Defensive Teams.
Now that Philadelphia has secured its franchise player, each member of its new Big 3 is signed long-term. Paul George, the biggest star to change teams in free agency this offseason, signed a four-year max deal that allows him to hit free agency in 2027 at the earliest (should he choose to decline his player option rather than making $56.6 million in what will be the 18th season of his career). Tyrese Maxey, the Sixers' 23-year-old rising star, signed a five-year max deal that allows him to hit free agency no sooner than 2029. The Sixers have committed approximately $715 million in future salary to these three players, per ESPN.
Since 2017-18, only three teams (Milwaukee, Boston and Denver) have won more regular-season games than Philadelphia. During that time, however, the Sixers have never advanced past the second round, and Embiid has had to play through a significant injury in nearly every postseason. Going forward on this new deal, Embiid is once again the centerpiece of a reconstructed roster that profiles as a championship contender, and this team could give him his best shot yet. George is the most talented wing Embiid has played with since Jimmy Butler, and, because of his 3-point shooting, is likely a better fit. Maxey's trajectory is unreal. And in addition to the aforementioned big-money deals, Daryl Morey's front office added Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson and Guerschon Yabusele and brought back Kelly Oubre Jr. and Kyle Lowry, all on team-friendly contracts ... and re-signed K.J. Martin to a contract designed to be flipped in a win-now trade at the deadline.
In Philadelphia, Embiid has outlasted a slew of executives and coaches, seen several scandals and had a few co-stars come and go. Ten years after he arrived, The Process (as in the multi-year rebuild that brought him to town) is an increasingly distant memory, but The Process (as in Embiid himself, since he adopted the term as his nickname) is not going anywhere.
