By John Wetzel, Sports Talk Philly staff
There's been some buzz around 76ers' guard Furkan Korkmaz over the last 36 hours. Sports Talk Philly's Jesse Larch wrote about Korkmaz visiting Philadelphia to potentially discuss his future and it was reported earlier today that Korkmaz will work out for the Sixers and Bryan Colangelo would like to see him play in the Sixers' summer league games.
Colangelo says Furkan Korkmaz may be able to play in Summer League. Depends on national team / U-20 commitments. Still not determined.
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) June 5, 2017
Korkmaz was the 26th overall pick by the Sixers in the 2016 draft. He spent the past season in the Euroleague where he played for Anadolu Efes for part of the season, but was loaned to Banvit so he could see more playing time. While he was there he shot an impressive 39.8% from three and 48.8% from the field. His field goal percentage is probably a little bit deflated because he shot 83 of his 170 shots from three point range. He was awarded the best young player award as he started to come into his own for Banvit.
Playing Korkmaz in summer league games would be interesting. He would get a little taste of NBA basketball and fans would finally be able to see him. For the most part he would be playing against guys in the same stage of development he's in so it would be good to see how he stacks up against the competition.
Korkmaz has had his sights set on things even bigger than summer league though. He's expressed interest since the beginning to join the Sixers for the 2017-18 NBA season. He is an intriguing piece of the process, but based on where he is in his development right now, there are a few things that come to mind in regards to where he should play next season. One – He's still skinny (6'7", 185 LBS). Two – He's still young (19). Three – He had a really solid season, but still needs to take his game a step further. Because of this, I think it would be best if he spent another year overseas.
The Sixers could definitely use his perimeter shooting this season. However, with it being unlikely that the Sixers contend, it would make more sense for Korkmaz to continue his development as an all round player. Some big reasons why he was sent to Europe this past season was because he was undersized, he would see less playing time and they wanted him to develop into a more dynamic scorer, not just a shooter. These question marks still remain albeit there has been progress.
The fear I have in bringing him over too soon is that he will see limited playing time or risk injury playing against more physically advanced players. Timothe Luwawu-Cabbarot looks to see a bigger role this season at the 2 guard along with role players like Nik Stauskas and Jerryd Bayless. So Korkmaz wouldn't see very much of the court this season and when he would be on the court he probably wouldnt be featured very much, likely being used as a spot up shooter a lot. There just wouldn't be enough touches to go around for him to develop further as a points creator. The Sixers need to see what they have in Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and their 2017 pick first and foremost and to do that you have to get them the ball.
If he played another full season in Europe he would be able to spend more time developing his ball handling and passing skills and gaining muscle. If the Sixers decide to keep him overseas next year and their shooting woes continue, fans won't be happy. But his ceiling is too high to stunt his development. It would be a waste for him to get stuck as a catch and shoot role player. Ideally, this season you'd like to see him grow into a bigger role where he taps into his athleticism more and starts creating shots off the dribble and becomes more of a powerful finisher in the paint.
Defensively speaking, he would be overmatched by bigger players in the NBA if he played today. If he were to add muscle to his frame, his height and length would be welcome additions to the Sixers defense if he's fundamentally sound. So getting footwork cleaned up along with developing more strength and quickness would be key for him next season.
If everything goes as planned, the Sixers problem at 2 guard could be solved with Korkmaz seeing the bulk of the minutes and TLC coming off the bench and contributing as an off the ball shooter. This could change depending on who the Sixers take in the draft, but as of right now I'd like to see this happen.
So to recap, Korkmaz had a good season, he could help the Sixers, but would help them more after another year in Europe.
But let us ask you, should Korkmaz play for the Sixers next season? Answer with the poll below.
Should Furkan Korkmaz play for the #Sixers this season?
— John Wetzel (@John___Wetzel) June 5, 2017
