Is it time to give Furkan Korkmaz an extended chance?

By Christopher Kline | Dec 12, 2017

(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Furkan Korkmaz might not be ready for an extended workload, but the Philadelphia 76ers need to at least give him a shot.

The Philadelphia 76ers have dropped four straight, with a number of different factors contributing to that decline. They lost a pair of games with Joel Embiid resting, saw their bench desolve due to injuries and have experienced quite a few growing pains late in games — all while playing the NBA’s toughest schedule.

If anything, that means overreactions are unnecessary. The team will take an immediate step forward once Embiid is back on the court, as will their depth once Robert Covington, T.J. McConnell, Justin Anderson and Markelle Fultz can all give it a go. That’s quite the list, huh?

This Sixers team, under their circumstances, is doing well at 13-13. That doesn’t mean some changes aren’t at least worth exploring.

Part of the problem with Philly’s bench is directly tied to those injuries. They’re also affected by the fact that Jerryd Bayless and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot have forgotten how to score the basketball, though.

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TLC hasn’t hit a three in what seems like forever, while Bayless has been anything but the steadfast veteran he was signed to be. Both are struggling immensely from the field, while their defense reflects those offensive lulls equally. They aren’t exactly helping the team right now.

That’s where Furkan Korkmaz comes into play.

The Sixers have been giving Furkan a steady dosage of G-League time alongside his bench-warming duties in Philly. As the youngest wing on the team, Korkmaz is definitely the most raw. He’s not exactly strong, and will likely struggle defensively regardless of his promising athletic profile.

He also hasn’t had much time to figure things out offensively with the Sixers. His first real playing time came in that loss to New Orleans, where Covington’s injury opened up a nice 20-minute time slot for the 20-year-old. He had five points, knocking down one three and throwing down an impressive reverse dunk in transition — which, at the very least, got him some extra style points.

We all entered the season with the impression that Korkmaz simply isn’t ready for NBA basketball, and he may not be. It’s tough for anyone as skinny as him to defend well, and that could lead to some tough matchups on the other end as well. But he’s a long, 6-foot-8 shooter. That’s typically a good blueprint nowadays.

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Bringing Korkmaz along slowly isn’t bad, but there isn’t any reasoning against giving him an opportunity. Bayless and TLC are doing very little good whenever they’re on the court, so slashing some of their minutes in favor of an extended look at Korkmaz — even once Covington is back — could be worth it.

Korkmaz was always a better shooter than TLC, and the current makeup of the Sixers’ rotation needs that shooting more than whatever TLC is doing on offense right now. Bayless’ secondary ball handling is a nice part of the rotation, but his utility drops even further once McConnell is back.

The Sixers should still focus on winning, because that’s a real option this year, but player development can still work alongside that. Korkmaz looked more comfortable as the game progressed in NOLA, and could be primed for a strong second outing if afforded that opportunity.

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Given how poorly his counterparts are playing, there isn’t too much than can go wrong. I’m not saying you should expect Korkmaz to be better than TLC or Bayless, but at least give him a chance to earn minutes.