Furkan Korkmaz
The Philadelphia 76ers, from the moment they drafted forward Ben Simmons, are no longer able to follow a standard position format. You see, the standard NBA team runs an offense via the point guard – who is smaller in stature but who exhibits superior basketball knowledge, ball handling, and ball distribution skills.
Those tasks will now be primarily assigned to Simmons.
That changes the specifications for the point guard position while Simmons is on the floor. Now, the team will look for a hybrid guard, a point guard who is accurate at shooting from the perimeter and can also manufacture his own shots.
That falls directly in Furkan Korkmaz’s wheelhouse. Korkmaz is a 6-foot-6 200 pound 18 year old young man who can play at either the shooting guard or point guard role. Despite two seasons in Europe, he has only played in a total of 38 games, but has average 40 percent shooting from the floor and 41.8 percent from the perimeter.
The rush to get Korkmaz to the NBA? Opportunity. He’s struggled to get playing time in Europe, but in an 82 game NBA league, would find much greater opportunity to roll into Brett Browns three or four game rotation, where he would get 10 to 15 minutes. Even on a one of four game appearance, he would see 20 games played, an increase over his current game load.
Korkmaz is still developing physically. At 18 years old, he would be the youngest player on the young Philadelphia 76ers roster. But he would strengthen the team in the backcourt, and he is a teammate of another NBA prospect, Dario Saric.
"“You could make an argument that he’s [Korkmaz] better off staying one or two more seasons in Europe and developing, but we’re a young team,” Colangelo said. “There’s an argument, even here, to say one more young body [on the roster] is not a good thing, but I disagree to an extent. We have a lot of development coaches, we have a beautiful practice facility, we have a D-League operation. I think [Korkmaz] might actually be better off in a situation where he comes over sooner rather than later, because he can be exposed to different things and possibly develop.” – Bryan Collangelo as interviewed by Derek Bodner of www.Phillymag.com"
And so, the chill of a young team seems to be thawing. The younger Colangelo, after a rough period of integration, seems to have adopted a more harmonious strategy, one that makes more optimal use of the strengths and assets of this team.
It was easier to assume the late first round picks would not find two players so highly coveted by this team, prospects who talents fall directly into the bullseye of the team’s shopping list. After the fates smiled so brightly on the team in landing the first overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, there was no expectation of more good fortune.
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The Philadelphia 76ers, in dire need of back court help but particularly in need of wing defense, could not have hoped for both Luwawu and Korkmaz to fall to them, but fall they did. Now, the best move for this team is to bring them home, develop them, and let them learn their role on the team from day one.