By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly editor 
It was inevitable, we all saw it coming: the Sixers are talking an extension to Joel Embiid this summer before he hits the free agent market in 2018 as a restricted free agent.
Now, all of these contract extensions could get kind of tricky in terms of what the actual terms of the deal will be, but most people expect the negotiations to go pretty smoothly considering Embiid has a very good relationship with the team, and he loves the city, so he doesn't seem like he want to go anywhere else anytime soon.
So, for obvious reasons, this is a very good thing.
Next season, as Embiid will become a free agent for the first time as an restricted one, which means that whatever team offers Embiid a contract next summer, the Sixers can match it and keep Embiid on the team until he becomes an unrestricted free agent where he can go out on the open market and pick any team his heart desires.
According to Sportrac, a contract site, which is an unbelievable tool by the way, Embiid will have about an $8 million qualifying offer next season that the Sixers would offer him.
However, for the Sixers to avoid that whole ordeal of qualifying offers and becoming a restricted free agent, the team can offer Embiid a contract extension this summer that would lock up the star big-man for the long-term.
This is the most ideal situation, because of Embiid's importance to protecting the Sixers' core and keeping that future *cough* championship *cough* team intact for years to come. Embiid being an integral part of this team stretches far beyond in that the risk of losing him due to the team being unable to match a contract or losing him to the open market should be avoided at all costs.
Sixers owner Josh Harris spoke to the Courier Times, and basically put it bluntly to what the actual importance of retaining Joel Embiid would actually be.
“Look, I’d just say we want Joel to be on the team for a long time,” Harris said. “We want us all to grow old together. That’s the way I would put it.”
So in the grand scheme of things, what should the Sixers' next steps be if they plan on locking Embiid up for the long-term?
What's that? Did you say…MAX DEAL?!
Well there you are, Joel Embiid would almost 99.9% need to be signed to a max deal or around a max this summer if the Sixers have any chance of making this work long-term.
Embiid would theoretically be making $130 million over five years with a max contract, which is pretty much the league-norm these days. The injury issues for Embiid is obviously a worry, but the Sixers might be able to work their way around all that with putting either a player or club option at the end of that, and take slightly less than a max at around $100 over four years with an option for an additional fifth season.
After the season Jo-Jo just had, there's no doubting that the talent Embiid possesses is worth a max contract or the lesser equivalent to one.
However, contracts can be difficult to negotiate, and Embiid does seem to be the kind of player that will take less money in order for his team to succeed in the long-term. It's just a hunch, but I will almost guess that Embiid cares more about bringing a championship to Philadelphia than his own agenda, but that's just my personal opinion.
It's no secret that, along with Embiid, Ben Simmons and eventually Markelle Fultz down the road will be in the market looking for a max deal, and the Sixers will need to find a way to max out all three players in order to stay competitive.
The deadline for Embiid to come to an agreement on his contract with the Sixers is October 31, and then after that, Embiid will play out the 2017-18 season with him becoming a restricted free agent at the beginning of next offseason.
