Could Furkan Korkmaz become as dangerous as Andrew Toney?

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – OCTOBER 04: Furkan Korkmaz #30 of the Philadelphia 76ers plays against the Memphis Grizzlies during the preseason game at the Wells Fargo Center on October 4, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

The Philadelphia 76ers have more than Markelle Fultz boosting the team next season. Will Furkan Korkmaz flashes of Andrew Toney brilliance continue?

The saga of Philadelphia 76ers phantom player Furkan Korkmaz reminds me of a famous quote. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity…” – A TALE OF TWO CITIES by Charles Dickens.

For you see, Furkan Kormaz is an NBA player on the roster of the Philadelphia 76ers, and he is signed up through 2021. While both the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons are team options, few if any expected the team to pass on the player when he signed. But here we are, the end of his first season, and he had played just 6 games with a 5.3 minute average. That comes out to about 32 minutes of NBA play. The best of times, the worst of times.

A flash of Andrew Toney

Not much to work with, right? Well in a sense. You see, he did have one game where he played 19 minutes, against Eastern Conference rival Boston Celtics. In that game, he flashed brilliance of a player who could develop into somebody very special. In those 19 minutes, he stacked up 13 points, six rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.

One game yes. But the young man had just a six game NBA season. But that flash was against hated rival Boston. And the Philadelphia 76ers have a history of finding that one shooting guard who plagues them for years at a time. We’ll come back to that in a moment.