The future of Ben Simmons remains up in the air as the Philadelphia 76ers threw more of their money behind Joel Embiid on Tuesday by handing him a big-money extension.

Shams Charania of The Athletic andESPN’s Ramona Shelburne report that Embiid has signed a four-year supermax extension.

The extension is worth $196 million (A$269m) and will keep Embiid in Philadelphia through the 2026-27 season for a total of $261 million (A$358m).

The off-season has been dominated by speculation that the Sixers would break up their star trio of Embiid, Simmons and Tobias Harris after the franchise once again failed to make it to the NBA Finals.

Simmons was guilty of underperforming in the Playoffs, going completely missing on offense and enduring one of the worst free throw performances in the history of the NBA post-season.

After being eliminated by the Atlanta Hawks in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals, Embiid not-so-subtly pointed the finger at Simmons.

“Man, I will be honest. I thought the turning point was, you know, when we, I don’t know how to say it, but I thought the turning point was just we had an open shot, and we made one free throw, and we missed the other, and they came down and scored,” Embiid said, referring to Simmons.

Embiid has now recommitted to the Sixers — the only franchise he has ever played for after being taken at No.3 overall in 2014.

Simmons future, however, is unclear. It’s also unclear if moving Simmons on was a condition of Embiid resigning.

Nonetheless, what’s certain is that the Sixers’ loyalty lies with Embiid above all else.

Simmons is expected to be eventually traded, with Keith Pompey of The Inquirer saying last week that a deal is still on the cards.

“I felt like, talking to people I spoke to and sources, they all thought it was going to happen in the pre-season, happen maybe right before training camp, in training camp, what have you. Maybe right before the final rosters,” Pompey said on 97.5 The Fanatic.

“But the belief is that he is still going to get traded. I think that’s right.”