It's been a weird summer for the Philadelphia 76ers. They landed the third pick in the draft, but their first choice rejected them, and they also lost their top free agent to the rival New York Knicks.
Add in Paul George getting injured and Joel Embiid's health, and the 76ers are primed for the most 76ers season ever. Dark times indeed. Embiid's future remains uncertain as he underwent major offseason surgery to repair his injured knee.
That knee injury was supposed to have been fixed but led to repeated issues last season, including swelling that resulted in him being shut down for the year. His injury issues caused Sixers beat writer Keith Pompeii to suggest that Embiid may not have much time left in the NBA.
“Rarely do you have a guy tell you how much pain he’s in and how much they’re going through.”@PompeyOnSixers tells @TheJaxShow and @DarthAmin he thinks Embiid could be hinting at something in his recent ESPN feature pic.twitter.com/620n9QQW5k
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 27, 2025
Joel Embiid's future with the Sixers is up in the air
It's unlikely that he will retire considering that he has $193 million owed to him over the next three seasons. Still, if Embiid is out for a long time, the Sixers have options.
The Sixers could ask for medical retirement regarding Embiid if he is expected to miss more than an entire season. That would allow them to clear his remaining salary, freeing up at least $59 million in cap space a season over the next three years.
They would still have to pay him, but his salary wouldn't count on their cap sheet. Of course, while Embiid's health is a major question mark for next season, it's hard to expect him to never play another NBA game.
The Philadelphia 76ers may be stuck with Embiid
That means that Philly could be stuck with him over the next three seasons. That was entirely predictable. Literally everyone familiar with Embiid's track record saw storm clouds on the horizon when they signed him to that max extension.
Even if President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey somehow gets off of Embiid's contract, he'll have to perform another magic trick with George's deal. Having not one but two of the worst contracts in the NBA is a disasterclass by the Sixers and could handcuff them going forward.
In their defense, they still have star Tyrese Maxey, as well as Jared McCain and V.J. Edgecombe. That is far from nothing, but the Sixers will essentially have dual timelines with those players and then their aging stars in Embiid and George.
All told, the Sixers have a major Embiid problem on their hands. If Pompei's assertion is true, then the 76ers may soon have to make a difficult Embiid decision that could alter their franchise.