The $69 million reason 76ers star Joel Embiid's trade value is cooked
Yesterday at 03:58 PM
This season has been a disaster for the Philadelphia 76ers. Not only has the signing of Paul George not panned out, but the team has been dealt with numerous injuries, the most important of which was at the detriment of former NBA MVP Joel Embiid.
In normal circumstances, a two-way superstar and recent MVP winner would fetch a lot of interest on the trade market, even if he’s dealing with injury issues. However, Embiid signed a massive contract extension in September, which has guaranteed him a hefty payday for years to come.
The 76ers have been criticized for signing Embiid to the three-year extension worth an estimated $193 million, especially considering Embiid’s performance for Team USA in the Summer Olympics was largely disappointing. Still, Philadelphia put pen to paper and is likely stuck with Embiid for the foreseeable future as a result.
When healthy, Embiid is still a top-tier player, but with his increasingly enormous salary, it will be difficult for any team to swing a trade for Embiid, even if they desperately want to.
“Once upon a time, Philly presumably could have extracted every draft pick that New York possessed before it splurged on trades for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns,” Jake Fischer wrote on The Stein Line Substack. “The Knicks were always the rival threat, sources said, that Sixers officials knew was waiting to pounce if Embiid ever reached the trade market.
“Now? With four years to go on his contract after this one, Embiid has unfortunately looked like a shell of himself. A player option for the 2028-29 season is scheduled to pay out a whopping $69 million when Embiid is 34.
A wide-reaching poll of league executives is hardly necessary to understand that you would struggle to find a more burdensome contract to move at the minute. All the recent NBA Trade Season chatter regarding Bradley Beal was a pretty clear indicator of how front offices look at an underperforming former All-Star in his 30s with multiple years of annual salary exceeding $50 million still on the books. Embiid turns 31 on March 16. ”
This season, the Sixers are paying Embiid $51.4 million despite the big man having missed the majority of the team’s games. Additionally, Embiid is reportedly considering another surgery on his knee as the 76ers continue to sink in the standings.
Next year, Embiid will earn $55.2 million, and the year after that, he will rake in close to $60 million in the first year of his extension. After that, Embiid’s salary will balloon to over $60 million and near $70 million in 2028-29, provided he picks up his player option.
After last night’s primetime loss to the aforementioned Knicks, the 76ers are 20-38 and in 12th place in the Eastern Conference.
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