23-year-old center Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers have agreed on a five-year max rookie-scale extension worth $148 million, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
Philadelphia center Joel Embiid has agreed to a five-year, $148 million designated rookie scale max extension, league sources told ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 9, 2017
Based on incentives, the deal could be worth an extra $30 million, says Wojnarowski:
The designated exception — termed “The Super Max — allows Embiid to earn a higher percentage of the salary cap — and potentially millions of dollars more — if he meets criteria, including, making All-NBA teams or the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. If Embiid meets the super max criteria, he could earn an as much as $178 million on the contract, league sources said.
This is a risky move for Philadelphia. There’s absolutely no denying that Embiid’s talent is worth that kind of money, but Embiid played just 25.4 minutes per game in 31 games last season after missing all of the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
Because the Sixers are aware of that risk, the deal will include some salary cap protection for the 76ers in case Embiid sustains serious injury that causes him to miss significant playing time, reports Wojnarowski.
These negotiations took time and apparently resulted in an extremely complicated contract:
Embiid's extension has been described to me as "perhaps the most complex" in NBA history. Expect a lot of details to trickle out.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) October 9, 2017
When he played last year, Embiid was utterly brilliant. He averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2.1 assists per game on .466/.367/.783 shooting.