Philadelphia 76ers Thanksgiving: One thing to be thankful for with every player

Furkan Korkmaz — His readiness

Early in the season, Furkan Korkmaz was out of the Sixers’ rotation — to the point where the 21-year-old requested a trade, citing the lack of opportunity. Now he’s a staple in the second unit, earning minutes after the Jimmy Butler trade.

With lackluster depth, Korkmaz has stepped into a prominent role over the last five games. He’s averaging around 15 minutes per contest in that span, giving Brett Brown another shooter to work with. Spacing remains integral to the Sixers’ success.

At 6-foot-7, Korkmaz competes on defense, moves without the ball and shoots 33.3 percent from deep. As the sample size grows, there’s a reasonable chance his percentage moves up. He looks like someone the Sixers can lean on.

A Kyle Korver trade (or perimeter addition of any sort) would likely relegate Korkmaz to another bottom-of-the-bench gig, but for the time being, the Sixers will pop the Kork with regularity. There would be serious issues if Korkmaz wasn’t ready to play legitimate minutes.