The Philadelphia 76ers are prepared to pay Ben Simmons a ton of cash to stay with the team for years to come.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski on Tuesday afternoon, the team offered the Australian-born star a five year contract extension worth $168 million. He is expected to take the deal after some details are worked out.
Philadelphia has offered a five-year, $168M maximum contract extension to Ben Simmons and the Sixers and agent Rich Paul are expected to work through the details toward an eventual agreement, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2019
This was an absolutely necessary move from the 76ers. They already lost Jimmy Butler and they can’t risk losing Simmons as well. They just can’t. (RELATED: Kevin Durant Will Sign With The Brooklyn Nets For $164 Million, Kyrie Irving Will Get $141 Million)
The former LSU star is one of the best players in the game, and he’s got well over a decade left in his career if he can stay healthy.
View this post on Instagram
He’s going to be the face of the 76ers for years to come, and that means getting paid a ton of money. That’s how it works.
When you have a dominant young player, you pay them. It’s really simple. Putting $168 million on the table is a ton of cash, but it’s absolutely worth it here.
Now, we’ll have to see what other pieces the 76ers can get in order to help provide Simmons and Joel Embiid with some help.
He can’t do it alone. That much is for sure. He’s going to need some pieces around him, and they should be able to start making moves now that his contract has been taking care of.
If you’re a fan of the 76ers, you have to be happy with this decision.
