By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly editor 
It's official, the Sixers and their coveted big-man, Joel Embiid have agreed to a max contract extension, keeping Embiid in Philadelphia for another five seasons.
First reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Embiid will make $148 million over the course of the next five years, with the possibility of it becoming a super max deal of $178 million.
Philadelphia center Joel Embiid has agreed to a five-year, $148 million designated rookie scale max extension, league sources told ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 9, 2017
If Embiid meets the super max criteria over course of deal, he could earn as much as $178M. https://t.co/55eWZGis4I
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 9, 2017
Embiid has played 31 games since being drafted by the Sixers in 2014. He is in the middle of recovering from a meniscus tear that required surgery in February, and was recently cleared to participate in full court five-on-five practice.
The move is huge for the Sixers, who have been in limbo on whether or not they would extend Embiid's contract based off of his injury history.
While re-signing Embiid was a no-brainer, there still is a risk in bringing back a guy on max contract who has suffered season-ending injuries in three straight seasons.
According to Woj, the deal does include a salary protection for the Sixers if Embiid is unable to play due to injury.
The deal will include some salary cap protection for the 76ers should Embiid sustain injury that causes him to miss significant playing time, league sources said.
No matter what, the deal was necessary for the Sixers to be successful, and with the salary protection clause added in to the contract, this seems to be a win-win scenario for the team.
