Sixers Offer Guard Record Contract After Signing Al Horford, Tobias Harris

The Philadelphia 76ers may have lost Jimmy Butler to Miami Heat but they are ensuring that they tie down a number of their key players while also signing reinforcements going into next season. Ben Simmons is the latest to be offered a new deal with the franchise from the City of Brotherly Love offering the Australian a record-setting $168 million five-year extension.

Simmons still has one more year to run on his rookie contract but the 76ers are keen to tie down the young point guard to a new deal and have made the offer to him and his agent Rich Paul. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed the offer and expects him to eventually put pen to paper after working through the details in the coming weeks.

“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,” Wojnarowski wrote.

NBA’s new salary cap projections are expected to take the deal up to $170 million, which according to Australian publication News.com.au, will be the richest deal signed by an Australian athlete. Simmons eclipses Andrew Bogut, who was the highest earning Aussie in the NBA, having earned $117 million during his lengthy NBA career and the young Sixers guard will surpass him in the next three years.

Simmons is the third player to get a $100 million+ commitment from the Sixers since free agency began as they signed free agent Al Horford on a four-year deal worth $109 million, while also reaching an agreement with Tobias Harris over a five-year deal worth $180 million. They are, however, set to lose Butler and J.J Reddick to Heat and New Orleans Pelicans respectively.

The 76ers have lost in the playoff semifinals in two consecutive seasons, but with All-Star forward Horford joining Simmons, Harris and Embiid, they are again likely to be among the favorites in the Eastern Conference, especially if Kawhi Leonard leaves Toronto Raptors and moves west to join one of the Los Angeles franchises.