Overreactions from Sixers’ first week of season: Furkan Korkmaz, top-5 player
Furkan Korkmaz has been the story of the Sixers’ first two games. Stepping into the backup point guard role in lieu of Shake Milton, the Turkish delight has exceeded expectations and then some. His steady rate of improvement year-to-year continues to impress, and the early returns on that three-year, $15 million contract are extremely positive.
Not only has Korkmaz been electric from 3-point land (62.5 percent on 4.0 attempts per game), but he has been legitimately functional as the lead ball-handler in Doc Rivers’ infamous all-bench lineups. That’s never the ideal setup — Korkmaz should always have another distributor next to him — but even as a square peg in a round hole, the 24-year-old’s production warrants praise.
Korkmaz has averaged 3.5 assists in 20.0 minutes per game, making high-level reads out of the pick-and-roll and developing quick chemistry with his second-unit roll man, Andre Drummond. The Korkmaz-Drummond lob is already an offensive staple, while Korkmaz’s improved on-ball utility (on top of his off-ball shooting gravity) makes him a much more intriguing option late in games.
So far, Korkmaz looks like one of the five best players on the Sixers’ roster. He’s just rock-solid offensively, making both loud splashes (18 points in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s win over NOLA) and quiet contributions as a passer, screener, and cutter. We will see if he can sustain this all season, and Danny Green or Tyrese Maxey are both real candidates for that “top-5” status. But, for two games, Korkmaz has been that good. Let’s just say he’ll probably finish higher than No. 9 next time we do our site-wide player rankings.