Joel Embiid reached a four-year, $196-million contract extension with the Philadelphia 76ers.

First of all, the 27-year-old big man deserved every dollar of this new deal after fantastic performance last season. Having averaged 28.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.4 blocks in 51 games, Embiid helped the 76ers finish the regular season as No. 1 in the Eastern Conference. The MVP competition between him and Nikola Jokic was very close. Embiid's stats of dropping 28.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.5 blocks in the playoffs were also dominant.

The question is why he agreed to such a long deal. The 76ers have been trying to make the pair of him and Ben Simmons work for the past four years but it simply didn't. While Embiid managed to take his game to a different level last season, Simmons did it too, but unfortunately toward the opposite direction. He became such an offensive dead weight that it's hard not to blame him for the lost series against the Atlanta Hawks.

The scene of Simmons facing an open dunk but passing to teammate became one of the biggest jokes in the league in 2021.

After the season, the 76ers were open to trade talks over Simmons. Simmons seemed willing to leave as there were reports about him refusing to talk to the team during the offseason. No trade has happened so far because the 76ers asked for too much.

Back to that question: Why did Embiid agree to a long deal, especially when Simmons is still with the team?

First, there may not be any connection between Embiid signing a contract extension and Simmons' trade. Embiid is already qualified for Designated Veteran Player Extension, which can be six years at most including the previous deal. If he signs it now, it will extend to 2027. If he waits for another year, it will extend to 2028, which won't make much difference.

Second, waiting can be risky for Embiid. Though he was drafted by the 76ers in 2014, he did not start playing in the NBA until 2016 because of injury. Having played five seasons so far, Embiid has not reached even 65 games in any year. His size, weight and playstyle all meant his health will be at high risk. Moreover, today's NBA is not the friendliest league to big men. If Embiid suffers any serious injury, Kawhi Leonard, who is not a big man but a much more successful player than Embiid, already showed him how it would look like.

Third, the 76ers have good reasons to be patient with trading Simmons. They have been very active on the trade market in recent years but many of the team's decisions have proved wrong. Not only did they fail to help the 76ers as expected, they also cost the team a lot of assets. Simmons, despite his disappointing performance last season, is still the most valuable asset the 76ers have. They must make it worth if any trade happens. In other words, no deal should be made if the 76ers can gain from it.

Besides, Simmons is at his low point of trade value at the moment but he can bounce back in the regular season, where competitions are not as tough as they are in the playoffs. If Simmons can play better in the new season, it will be in the interest of the 76ers either they want to continue to trust him or trade him away.