The Philadelphia 76ers have two players featured in Bleacher Report's "NBA Players Not Living Up to Big-Money Contracts" article.
The Philadelphia 76ers are home to three max contract players: Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George.
Unfortunately for Philadelphia's front office, only one of these deals is looking worthwhile. Maxey is playing at an All-NBA caliber, averaging 28.9 points and 6.8 assists on 46.9% shooting, so clearly he's worthy of the nearly $38 million he's earning this season.
The same cannot be said for Embiid's three-year, $188 million contract or George's four-year, $211 million deal. Bleacher Report listed Embiid and George as two NBA stars not living up to their big-money contracts.
"If the Sixers were going to miss George's on-court contributions during his absence, maybe there'd be an argument that his suspension is more of an even trade-off," B/R's Grant Hughes wrote. "But they won't."
George is in the midst of serving a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA's anti-drug policy. While his reliable defense and secondary scoring have been missed, he's recording just 16.0 points per game on 42.4% shooting this season. It's clear he's not deserving of earning over $50 million annually at this stage of his career.
When Philadelphia signed George to this lucrative deal, they were banking on him remaining the 20+ PPG scorer he was with the Los Angeles Clippers. Instead, he's greatly regressed at age 35.
As for Embiid, Hughes wrote, "That's supermax money for a player who probably should not be expected to appear in half of his team's games—to say nothing of the likelihood of statistical decline or the possibility of another significant injury."
Embiid has missed the last three games for the Sixers and has appeared in only 31 games this season. He's still on pace to double the number of appearances he made during the 2024-2025 season (19).
When healthy, Embiid is absolutely deserving of the money he's earning. The problem is he's injured more often than he's available at full strength.
Having $400 million invested in these two underperforming stars could ultimately be what prevents the 76ers from hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy in 'The Process' era.
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