Is Joel Embiid's contract the worst in all of Sports? \ stacker news ~Stacker

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Is Joel Embiid's contract the worst in all of Sports?

409 sats \ 12 comments \ @grayruby 24 Feb Stacker_Sports

Joel Embiid, also known as The Process or the Biggest Loser in some circles, was once regarded as one of the best players in the NBA. Despite his injury history and inconsistent effort he is a 7 time all start and did win an MVP in 2022/23.

This past offseason the 76ers signed Embiid to a 3 year 193M extension, which also includes a player option for the 2028/29 season at 69M.

Embiid has always had injury issues but the past couple years have been worse than ever. He only played 39 of 82 games last year and has only played 19 this year. Besides the games missed, his production has declined dramatically. This season he has had career lows in points, rebounds, blocks, field goal % and 3 point %. The team clearly plays better when he is not in the lineup.

Not sure what the 76ers an do. Embiid will be eating up around 1/3 of their cap for 4 more seasons.

So I ask the Stackers, is this the worst contract in all of sports?

Sats for all, GR

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31 sats \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 24 Feb

I dunno if it's the worst, but a related question i'd like to ask is, "Is Darryl Morey overrated?" I think he gets a lot of hype for being one of the faces of the analytics movement, but his track record hasn't been that great from what I can tell.

70 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 24 Feb

Morey basically deserves a lot of credit for seeing Harden's potential before everyone else, but many of his subsequent moves have not been wise.

The conventional wisdom is that you have to give Embiid the supermax, but I know I wouldn't have.

80 sats \ 0 replies \ @Public_N_M_E 25 Feb

I think "worst contract in sports" is still Deshawn Watson. But it's definitely close.

Worse trade in sports is either Deshawn or Luka Dončić.

40 sats \ 1 reply \ @BTC_Bellzer 24 Feb

Bobby Bonilla is still getting paid

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby OP 24 Feb

Yeah but only a mill a year. Pocket change these days. Crazy contract at the time though.

40 sats \ 2 replies \ @gnilma 24 Feb

First one that came to mind was Roberto Luongo's 12 year, $64 million contract. Mike Gillis ended up trading Cory Schneider away before he could find another team to take that Luongo contract. And Vancouver had to retain part of Luongo's salary to make the trade happen. I think Luongo ended up retiring while still having 3 years left on the contract. I guess the silver lining is that Luongo remained relatively good before he got traded.

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @grayruby OP 24 Feb

I think the hang up on Luongo was he sucked in the playoffs. He was still a pretty good goalie otherwise. That definitely was a ridiculous deal at the time.

40 sats \ 0 replies \ @gnilma 25 Feb

Yea, he wasn't very consistent in the playoffs, especially towards the last few seasons with the Canucks. Still great goalie and great career though. I think NHL goalie with 2nd most games played behind Brodeur and 4th most wins behind Brodeur, Fleury, and Roy. And of course HHOF 2022.

40 sats \ 3 replies \ @Undisciplined 24 Feb

Deshaun Watson's contract might be worse, because there's a hard cap and he's a sex predator.

29 sats \ 2 replies \ @grayruby OP 24 Feb

Good point about the sex predator thing but just in financial terms I think Embiid is worse because Watson will be a free agent after two more years. They will still owe him 26M at that point though.

Watson's cap hits are pretty brutal the next couple years. Using 25% of the cap on one guy is one thing in basketball when you only need 12 but that is a huge chunk when you need 53.

I think overall Watson's might be worse but currently Embiid's is worse.

40 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined 24 Feb

Another difference is that the 76ers might have already found a replacement for Embiid, in Yabu, whereas the Browns have no hope of replacing Watson with a significant improvement.

24 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby OP 24 Feb

You can't fault the Browns for incompetence. That's kind of their whole modus operandi.