Furkan Korkmaz signed with the Philadelphia 76ers yesterday, but expectations of a Dario Saric-type rookie season are unrealistic.
Trust the process pic.twitter.com/JKrH8P8t7U
— Furkan Korkmaz (@FurkanKorkmaz) July 4, 2017
It’s always exciting to get a Philadelphia 76ers first round draft pick signed. The significant talent and production from rookies Joel Embiid and Dario Saric in 2016-17 have lead us to expect immediate impact from young players.That Furkan Korkmaz agreed to pay nearly his entire first year salary to come join the NBA is cause enough to make him a fan favorite. However we need to temper our expectations a bit. I do not think that kind of optimism is fair to Furkan Korkmaz for this coming season.
I’m not saying Korkmaz cannot contribute someday but expectations of him playing at a high level are unfair. I think Korkmaz will have a career trajectory more akin to Nik Stauskas than Dario Saric.
Philadelphia 76ers
Reason 1 — Dario Saric was a high-level acheiver in Europe
Dario Saric was a prodigy in European basketball. His court vision, toughness and general grit were unparalleled. Starting at age 15, Dario was a contributor in European professional leagues as well as international competition. We are talking about a player who was able to play against grown men and had the bulk to generally hold his own, with the preternatural vision to make opposing players’ heads spin.
And yet with all of his gifts he still struggled mightily for the first three months of his NBA career. Korkmaz by contrast is an intriguing prospect who can shoot the 3 but has really shown little else to warrant NBA expectation beyond being young and long.
I highly recommend this scouting report via Rafael Uehara to get a more in depth and realistic picture of Furkan as a prospect.
Reason 2 — He lacks an NBA Body
Let’s face it folks, Furkan is skinny. I am a firm believer that Nik Stauskas was not physically ready when he entered the NBA. That is the primary source of his early career struggles and Furkan is much skinnier. For comparison sake, at age 19 Nik Stauskas was 17 pounds heavier than Furkan is now.
At 6-foot-8 but 190 pounds, he will get moved off his spots by stronger defenders. This will lead to nothing but knocking down open threes on occasion. Truth is he cannot be expected to be much of a defender until he gets into a true NBA level strength and conditioning program.
Related Story: Who's the better pick: TLC or Korkmaz?
Reason 3 — Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot
Another natural assumption is that Korkmaz, who was selected two spots after Timothe Luwawu Cabarrot, will have a similar rookie season. As we know TLC spent time bouncing back and forth between Philadelphia and Newark Delaware before playing late in the season for the Philadelphia 76ers.
TLC has explosiveness and quickness that Korkmaz simply has not shown yet. Yes I know Furkan won a dunk contest (dressed as Darth Vader). But while he is a decent athlete by European standards, he is not going to make anyone miss in the NBA. TLC was fairly savvy about back-door cuts and was a decent wing defender. I think he represents absolute best case for Korkmaz’ rookie season.
Next: Sixers' confessional booth, The Process and me
Expect him to spend significant time in Delaware getting run for the 87ers this coming season.