Philadelphia 76ers: Point guard is a viable position for Furkan Korkmaz

When Shake Milton went down with an ankle injury during the preseason, it appeared that the Philadelphia 76ers were in trouble. The team has been without point guard Ben Simmons due to a very complicated situation and two-way contract point guard Grant Riller has also been out due to injury as well.

That left Tyrese Maxey as the lone true point guard on the roster. The team could have made a panic move to add a playmaker in free agency. However, they decide to roll the dice on a player who hasn’t played point guard in the NBA and that man is Furkan Korkmaz.

Korkmaz can be a reserve point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Korkmaz has been one of the longest-tenured players on the roster and one of the better 3-point shooters on the roster. Then why would head coach Doc Rivers turn to the Turkish sharpshooter for point guard minutes?

Despite being 6-foot-7, Korkmaz does play the point guard for the Turkish national team as Rivers recently revealed, per Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. Thus far, the results have been rather promising for the 76ers.

In two games, Korkmaz has averaged 16.0 points, 3.5 assists, and 1.0 turnovers, while making 62.5 percent of his 3-pointers. In the season opener, he had 22 points and five assists, so it’s clear he can function positively in the point guard role.

Can he do it in a full-time manner? Unlikely, but as the sample size gets bigger, he could prove to be a solid point guard option. However, it should be noted that he’s not always the reserve point guard. There are stretches where he shares the playmaking duties with Maxey, Seth Curry, and Tobias Harris.

Korkmaz has come a long way in his career, and now he can be a solid fill-in option for the Philadelphia 76ers at the backup point guard position.