Reason four – Set the bar for Furkan Korkmaz
Going forward, I don’t see the Philadelphia 76ers keeping both TLC and Furkan Korkmaz. When the team drafted the pair at 22 and 24 in the 2016 NBA Draft, the path seemed to be laid before both. One of you will be a Philadelphia 76ers for a very long time. It’s up to the two of you to decide which player that is. And with the team signing 22-pick Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, the early expectation was TLC would have the inside track. Now? I’m not as certain.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot has been demoted this season without Furkan Korkmaz healthy enough to play. So the team is sitting on two wings who they have no true understanding of how they will play in the future. That is not good news for either player.
Play TLC now
The projection for TLC is not nearly as accurate as the production for TLC. So the wise team simply corrects the baseline. Toss out the projection, swap in the production. After all, the team has the guy on the roster today. Why haggle the entire off-season about what he might do for the team? Learn the actual results now.
Even if the team has somehow decided to move away from TLC going forward, there is still time to learn what his level of production is with a steady stream of playing time. That way, when the team begins providing opportunity to Korkmaz next year, they already have the baseline numbers from Luwawu-Cabarrot which can set the standard. The team will not be able to wage direct comparisons on the basketball court next season due to playing time constraints.