After spending a year in Turkey after being drafted in last year’s NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, Furkan Korkmaz wants to come over. It would be in the best interest of both the team and the player for him to join the team as soon as possible.
After being drafted 26th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016, Furkan Korkmaz spent the past year playing for the Turkish Team Anadolu Efes. While there, Korkmaz won the Best Young Player Award in the Basketball Champions League after averaging 10.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 48.8 percent from three.
Philadelphia 76ers
For the past few months, Korkmaz has made it clear he wants to join the 76ers as soon as possible. However, there are two main obstacles preventing this from happening.
First, the 76ers must pay his Turkish team a $2 million buyout to bring him over this season. For this reason alone, the team has been hesitant.
Second, team executives have worries about whether or not he is physically ready to compete at the NBA level. They would rather have Korkmaz stay in Turkey for another year to bulk up and work on getting stronger.
Though these are two legitimate concerns, I believe it is in the best interest of both the 76ers and Korkmaz if he were to join the team as soon as possible.
After watching these NBA Finals, it is clear that the Warriors will reign over the league for at least the next three years. Lebron James is also no where close to slowing down, and will realistically dominate the East for the next few seasons as well.
Unless a third “super team” forms in this span, the opportunity for any other franchise to win a championship is slim. In this down period of competitiveness, it would be in the best interest of the team to bring their young core together and get them as much experience as possible.
Having young players thrown into the fire early on will prepare them both mentally and physically for the rest of their careers. The expected trepedations that come with young rosters do not outweigh the camaraderie and chemistry a team can produce with many similarly-aged players on a roster. Like the Warriors, young teams that grow together and experience early failures have a good chance to develop a sense of togetherness both on and off the floor.
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Culture is very important when trying to play successful basketball, as seen this season with Joel Embiid on the court. He made the game look fun, and his happiness seemingly spread throughout the entire locker room.
If Furkan Korkmaz is going to be a part of this team’s long-term future, which many expect him to be, then the sooner he can join the team the better. Even if he experiences early struggles competing with bigger and stronger players, it is better for him to get the experience in the NBA during a period with low expectations than in Turkey.
For the next few seasons, making the playoffs will be considered a successful season in Philadelphia. The team will not be vying for any championships for at least another four seasons (at best). Using the Warriors as a barometer, their core was together for four years before they became contenders as well.
Not only should he join the team for chemistry reasons, but he could actually contribute right away in short stretches. As seen in the video above, he has a very mature game for a 19 year old. His 48.8 percent shooting from the three point line shows that he can stretch the floor, and the 76ers desperately need more shooters on the roster.
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Overall, Korkmaz wants to be here, and we would be silly not to accept him immediately. Sure, it will cost the team two million dollars, but the Sixers have over $50 million dollars in cap space, so they can afford it. It will benefit the team in the long run, and it could be the start of something very special with all of the team’s young pieces growing together in this league.