Philadelphia 76ers superstar big man Joel Embiid can find a silver lining amid this unique NBA season. ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski report the league has finalized an agreement on prorating performance bonuses and incentives using March 11 as the end of the season and eliminating the eight seeding games in Orlando from the calculation, which means the Sixers center will have the remaining $95 million on his contract over the next three years guaranteed.
The $148 million max deal Embiid signed in 2017 stipulates that the 26-year-old must log a certain number of total minutes this season — something he has already achieved thus far when the prorated computation of the shortened season is taken into account. The big man initially needed 1,650 minutes played this season, but the prorated amount over 65 games took that threshold below the 1,329 minutes he played before the hiatus.
Embiid missed the first two years of his NBA career due to injury, and as a way to insure themselves in the event of another major injury, the Sixers applied several safety measures on their star's contract. This included monetary protection from Embiid not being able to play a significant part of the season for the team, which explains the minutes requirement.
The Sixers entered the hiatus with a 39-26 record, which is good for the sixth seed in the East. Only two games separate them from the fourth-placed Miami Heat, with the Indiana Pacers sitting right between them at fifth. Needless to say, the remainder of the regular season will be critical in terms of positioning for Philadelphia.
As for Embiid, he's averaging 23.4 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists this season. These numbers are down from 2018-19, but the Sixers star has been working hard during the hiatus to get back to his peak form.
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