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76ers' Updated Salary-Cap Space After Joel Embiid's Reported Supermax Contract
August 17, 2021
The last time the Philadelphia 76ers and Joel Embiid sat down for contract-extension negotiations, the center was a talented-but-injury prone star whom the team hoped could stay healthy enough to realize his potential.
There are no such concerns anymore.
The Sixers and Embiid reached a four-year, $196 million supermax extension Tuesday that places him among the game's highest-paid players, per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne. Embiid is now under contract through the 2026-27 season.
Embiid was set to come off the books after 2022-23. From a salary-cap perspective, this essentially locks in the Sixers as being over the cap and a likely tax team by 2023-24.
Embiid, Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons are on the books for $120.8 million in 2023-24. While it's increasingly unlikely that Simmons will be on the roster two seasons from now, the Sixers will likely prioritize acquiring another star to pair with Embiid—one who almost certainly will make max-level money.
The only other players under contract for 2023-24 are Tyrese Maxey (club option), Jaden Springer (club option) and Furkan Korkmaz. Matisse Thybulle will be due a contract extension by then, all of which is to say the Sixers have no roster flexibility for the foreseeable future.
President of basketball operations Daryl Morey's job will be to improve the team on the margins and potentially find a star who fits better with Embiid than Simmons.
