The Philadelphia 76ers must make do without Furkan Korkmaz for at least two weeks.
The Philadelphia 76ers are 2-1 on the young season, and 2-0 when Joel Embiid suits up. There have been plenty of positives to gleam from the new-look Sixers, even if a lot still needs figuring out. Now there’s a new wrinkle in Doc Rivers’ plans; Furkan Korkmaz suffered a left abductor strain in Sunday’s loss to Cleveland. He will be reevaluated in approximately two weeks, according to The Athletic’s Derek Bodner.
In the meantime, Philadelphia will need to survive the absence of a critical rotation piece. While Korkmaz’s reputation is strained in certain circles of the fandom, his ability and willingness to shoot on the move is valuable next to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. He is one of the best shooters on the roster, still.
Rivers has leaned on Korkmaz consistently through three games, playing him 18.3 minutes per game. That’s a slight drop from his playing time under Brett Brown last season, but even with a deeper wing rotation, Korkmaz’s absence will be felt.
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The next step, of course, is finding his replacement. Doc Rivers has made public his desire to use a 10-man rotation this season. While that could feasibly change without Korkmaz, odds are he will use the next man up — Matisse Thybulle.
Thybulle has played sparingly in the Sixers’ two blowouts (the win over New York and the loss to Cleveland) but he’s clearly not part of Rivers’ regular rotation. Not yet, at least. With Korkmaz scheduled to miss time, we should expect Thybulle to see real minutes. This is his opportunity to prove his mettle under a new head coach.
That said, Thybulle probably won’t get all of Korkmaz’s minutes. He’s not a shooter like Korkmaz, nor does he have the same capacity for playmaking. Rivers has allowed Korkmaz to create out of pick-and-rolls and DHOs this season — a responsibility Brown never really bestowed upon him. Thybulle can not fill that void.
While Thybulle will step in as the 10th man, Tyrese Maxey may be the biggest benefactor of Korkmaz’s brief hiatus. The rookie has averaged 13.7 minutes through three games — a number that will almost certainly go up in Korkmaz’s absence. Maxey can’t replicate Korkmaz’s shooting, but he’s a quick-twitch creator and ball-handler who can infuse much-needed dynamism into the lineup without Korkmaz.
Rivers has been hesitant to lean on Maxey so far, despite promising early signs. The Sixers have never had a player quite like Maxey during the Embiid era. He gets dribble penetration at will and poses a threat at all three levels. That said, his reluctance to shoot 3s has been glaring, and he will need to get more confident in the perimeter jumper if he wants to establish a bigger role as the season progresses.
Swapping Korkmaz’s shooting for Maxey’s quick burst and playmaking chops is adequate enough. Maxey has earned a bigger role already, and while he still has room to grow, he’s clearly part of the future. While the Sixers would do well to get Korkmaz back as soon as possible, the silver lining is Maxey. He could get even more room to shine over the next two weeks.