Joel Embiid’s contract extension is the latest example of Sixers’ newfound stability

The 76ers’ terrific offseason concluded with one final scribble of the pen when Joel Embiid signed a three-year, $192.9 million max contract extension last week.

There was little surprise this deal — which takes the 30-year-old Embiid through the 2028-29 season — was finalized weeks after the superstar center became eligible earlier this summer. The Inquirer’s Mike Sielski aptly called it a “significant formality.”

That’s partially because the typical protocol for max-level players is to sign such lucrative contracts to lock in the salary and, if things go south with that team, figure out how to maneuver themselves to the next playing destination. And because Embiid arguably is the NBA’s most dominant force when healthy, the financial risk is worth it for the Sixers, despite Embiid’s extensive injury history.

But that the news felt so routine was also evidence of the Sixers’ stability, an irregular environment throughout Embiid’s decadelong career even as he has ascended into an awe-inspiring blend of power and skill and the 2023 NBA MVP.

» READ MORE: Sielski: The Sixers had no choice but to commit to Joel Embiid. He has no choice but to live up to his end.

This time last year, James Harden had called president of basketball operations Daryl Morey “a liar” and was about to show up late for training camp before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 1. Nick Nurse was entering his first season as head coach after Doc Rivers was fired following the Sixers’ Game 7 face-plant in Boston in the playoffs’ second round. And back then, the Sixers were only two years removed from the Ben Simmons saga, which lingered all the way to the 2022 trade deadline.

When outsiders pondered who could be the next NBA superstar to request a trade, Embiid was a logical consideration.

Now, Tyrese Maxey has blossomed into an explosive All-Star guard and spearheads a dangerous two-man game with Embiid — and (finally) was rewarded with a five-year max contract. The Sixers then pulled off the NBA’s splashiest offseason signing in perennial All-Star wing Paul George and added veteran complementary players such as Caleb Martin and Andre Drummond.

This summer already set the Embiid-Maxey-George trio up for at least three seasons together. Embiid’s extension further stretches that potential runway into the twilight of his prime.

To be clear, less preseason drama does not mean less preseason pressure. One could argue that no player, and no team, shoulders more of it than Embiid and the Sixers entering 2024-25. This is the definition of going all-in with a generational talent, even with the defending champion Boston Celtics and also-loading-up New York Knicks ready to jockey for Eastern Conference supremacy.

» READ MORE: Sixers provide first look at Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey on the court together

“We put most of our focus on now, vs. the future, where Joel is in his prime,” Morey said at his end-of-season news conference in May.

Embiid is still searching for a healthy (and lengthy) playoff run, after missing two months following February knee surgery and laboring through the Sixers’ first-round playoff loss to the Knicks (while still dropping 50 points in Game 3). But his regular-season dominance — he put up a historic 70-point stat line against the San Antonio Spurs days before the Golden State Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga fell on that knee and averaged 34.7 points, 11 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.7 blocks last season — is consistently jaw-dropping. It will be fascinating to track how he uses the upcoming 82 games to prioritize taking care of his body, integrating George, and further building on the dynamite Embiid-Maxey tandem.

“Joel cares about this — as you might expect, it’s his life — more than anybody,” Morey said in May. “… I know Joel is trying to think through everything of how can he make sure he’s at his maximum abilities once the playoffs roll around?”

But Embiid trudged through The Process. He dealt with the Simmons and Harden turmoil. Now, he says signing this max extension further illustrates his desire to spend his whole career in Philly.

» READ MORE: Paul George in, Tobias Harris out: Projecting the Sixers’ rotation after a busy offseason

That this end-of-the-offseason news felt so routine also is evidence of the Sixers’ newfound stability.