Although he hasn’t yet been cleared for contact drills or 5-on-5 play, Joel Embiid expects to be ready in time to break camp with the Sixers this fall, whether or not he’ll have his contract extended before he returns or not, is another question.
Shortly after the June 22 draft, Sixers’ managing owner Josh Harris spoke about how committed he was to keeping the current Philadelphia squad together. One way of doing so could come in the form of a five-year, roughly $130MM contract extension.
Such a deal would begin in 2018/19 after Embiid plays out the final year of his rookie deal (worth $6.1MM) but would need to be agreed upon prior to opening day on October 17.
Another option the Sixers have is to let Embiid play through the 2017/18 campaign and then extend him a qualifying offer worth $8MM next offseason. That would make the then-24-year-old a restricted free agent.
There’s little doubt that an undeniably healthy Embiid would be worth a max contract extension as soon as possible but the big man has missed 215 of the 246 games the Sixers have played since they drafted him.
What then, is he worth now, considering that an element of uncertainty looms over what we can reasonably expect in the future? You tell us.
Are the Sixers better off to see how the 2017/18 season unfolds before they commit to Embiid long-term? Or would they benefit from locking the big man in at some point before mid-October. If you were at the helm of Philly’s front office, what would you look to do?
Get ready sixers fans for the fragile joel embiid to expect a max contract! Cutting into your flexibility and potentially losing him due to injury. #trusttheprocess
Can the Sixers offer a (max) contract with a games played contingency to protect themselves, or doesn’t the NBA allow it?
I don’t think so. I think the only way to void a player’s contract because they’re missing games is through medical retirement
The tricky thing with Embiid is that he’s really only had two injuries, the foot (which only took 2 years to recover because of him not rehabbing correctly at first) and the torn meniscus. Last year he was extremely fluid and since a torn meniscus is a common injury and nothing to be worried about, I’d take the risk and sign him to the extension
Just shave off the entirety of his rookie contract from the extension. Then start that convo.
Honestly as a Sixer fan i would wait til next year. Yea i wanna keep him longterm but he needs deliver one mostly healthy season 65+games. I also would like to keep the cap space open.
It’s tricky see as a team like the nets with throw the max at him because they are starved for talent. No doubt talented player but this risk high.
It would be like signing Greg Odom to a long-term contract!
Or Greg Oden even.
hahahaha Rollin
Then trade him to the Nets for something that can walk and play basketball without getting hurt
Many teams will offer him the max. Unless he misses even more time this season.
Yeah…he’s missed 85% of eligible games, lets pay him a max contract. Trust the process! Blahahahahahaha! I hope they do max him out as it will make one less team to worry about in the East as they dig themselves out of said contract.
If the Sixers GM was smart, he wouldn’t think of offering Embiid a max contract.
Consider this when comparing times lines with similar circumstances. Steph Curry came into the NBA and played well when he did. But even though he only missed significant time one year, he constantly was pulled from games the two years prior because of ankle issues. He was offered a good deal but nowhere near the max. Because of this, the Warriors could build the team they have.
The Sixers will not be able to reach their full potential without Embiid but will not reach their full potential with him at a max contract.
Reasonable take on this. I don’t think you offer an extension. Let him go to RFA and let the market set the price. If he has a good year with no injuries match him. If not let him walk. They have enough other talent to not be held hostage by thoughts of him leaving.
Honestly Embiid just looks fragile to me. His base seems weak. That’s probably because he couldn’t lift while he was recovering from his foot injury. He has the same issue this off season. We really aren’t going to see a fully realized Embiid until he had a full year to build his lower body up. Until then I hope they have him keeping his weight down and I hope they treat him with kid gloves this year.
There is nothing wrong with the Sixers waiting and allowing Embid to hit restricted free agency. If he’s healthy they offer the max or match any offer. If he continues to be injury prone, then you would have saved face and money by not offering the max extension. NYK, Stoudimire’s 100million 5 year contract was bad. Don’t be the Knicks.
Totally agree. Look at it and ask yourself, what would Phil Jackson do? Then do the exact opposite.
Or bring in Phil as an advisor specifically to do everything he says not to.
Hahaha
Yeah because if Embiid say gets hurt again. You can match offer depending on the injury. Or just sign Boogie Cousins. Let’s be real Embiids ceiling is cousins. I don’t think the team misses a beat inserting cousins if they have to.
One question NBA free agency confuses me sometimes. With the ‘FEDS’ can the sixers go over cap extensively to keep all their own free agents ?
Like everyone made a big deal about KD taking a cut so Iggy and Livintgston could stay but couldn’t the owner of signed them anyway and just gotten taxed ? Can the Warriors keep Green and Klay on max deals and just go over cap if they have to and pay taxes ?
KD took the pay cut so that the tax bill wouldnt be as high. but yes the owner couldve just signed them.
Signing Boogie is an interesting idea but he’s likely looking for a max deal as well.
It’s only if Embiid walks or isn’t healthy. Cousins similar player to an extent
I would have max cap space if they choose to let him walk. Obviously they hope to use cap space to sign one more awesome FA next summer (paging KCP or Avery Bradley) and sign Embiid with bird rights over the cap, but it might not work that way due to injuries. Signing cousins would be a nice alternative.
What about a 2 or 3 year max? He gets paid for life and they can get out of it quickly if it goes bad.
i think I’d offer 5/100 max deal is 5/130??? Offer 5/100 he gets security in case injuries derail his career sixers get a discount
Ya but I think they’d rather have higher AAV shorter term. Maybe both sides actually because if it works out for Embiid a 3 year max gets him into the 7 year bracket of maximums if I’m not mistaken. The cap is continuing to go up as well. A 3 year max is best for everyone because he’ll have to go for less long term.
I would offer a relative lucrative deal with tons of incentive money centered around playing time that would build up to the max.
They should be aloud to add at least one more yr to his rookie contract because off all the injuries
i feel like its obvious to let him play out the contract, go into restricted FA and if a team offers a max… just match it. ♂️
Unless you can get him to go for shorter term now. If he won’t take a 3 year deal then I’d do what you suggested.
See if he can last a season. He has all-world talent. If he can stay healthy he will be an all time great. If not, then he can be an all time great commentator because he’s hilarious.
Do not extend. Health risk is real. Foot injury on a big guy…big problem. Pay for performance…not a hope that he earns the big dollars! When you pay players who have not earned it, envy sneaks in the locker room. Simmons will think it’s his team. No proven leader here…don’t introduce favoritism. Let them all compete and focus on winning for the fans who have waited too long already!
#trusttheprosses
Remember curry he had knee injuries a the time and he’s a star now