The perimeter depth of the Philadelphia 76ers seems to be missing the shooting that Furkan Korkmaz was able to provide coming off the bench.
The torn meniscus that Furkan Korkmaz suffered in mid-February was a devastating blow to a second year player that had shown growth. Prior to the injury, he was competing for playing time against new comers James Ennis and Jonathon Simmons for playing time. After the injury, he was essentially out of the competition. However, it appears that the Philadelphia 76ers are missing his 3-point shooting ability.
Both Simmons and Ennis haven’t been able to get it going from downtown with any type of regularity. Since being traded, Ennis is shooting 23.5 percent from behind the arc and Simmons has shot 33.3 percent on 3-pointers. It should be noted that Simmons isn’t really known as a 3-point shooter and since the beginning of March, both Simmons and Ennis shot 25.0 percent from the 3-point line.
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Now on the season Korkmaz has been a streaky shooter and I’ve even pointed this out in the past, however he did show the ability to shoot well from downtown. During December and January of this season, Korkmaz has shot at least 35.0 percent on 3-pointers. He’s the best pure shooter out of the three reserve wings that are currently getting playing time.
According to the Per 100 possessions stats, Korkmaz is one of the more well rounded options at wing coming off the bench.
| Rk | Age | G | GS | MP | FG% | 3P% | 2P% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | ORtg | DRtg | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Furkan Korkmaz | 21 | 46 | 6 | 654 | .402 | .331 | .505 | .833 | 7.6 | 3.7 | 2.0 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 4.3 | 19.4 | 108 | 109 | |
| 17 | Jonathon Simmons | 29 | 11 | 0 | 146 | .378 | .333 | .400 | .600 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 2.6 | 0.0 | 2.6 | 6.1 | 13.3 | 97 | 109 | |
| 18 | James Ennis | 28 | 10 | 1 | 141 | .432 | .235 | .556 | .900 | 11.4 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 5.0 | 17.1 | 108 | 111 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/13/2019.
This isn’t to say that the second year player is the best option out of the three players. Christopher Kline, Co-Site Expert of The Sixers Sense, made a great case to why Ennis is the best overall player of the reserve wings. However, if the Sixers purely need 3-point shooting, Korkmaz would be the best option if Ennis and Simmons continue to struggle from downtown.
Ennis’ veteran experience and more well rounded games makes him a primary choice off the bench, but Korkmaz is a better second option off the bench than Simmons at this point. Simmons’ defense is solid, but he’s too much of a vliability on offense which makes him a worse option than Korkmaz.
According to Serena Winters of NBCSPhilly, Korkmaz had surgery Feb. 26 on his knee and will be re-evaluated in four weeks from the surgery. That means the Philadelphia 76ers could have good news regarding his ability to return as soon as next week. If he can return sooner rather than later, it will give the Sixers another shooter on the perimeter heading into the postseason.