It’s late Saturday night (technically Sunday morning), and by some miracle, the 76ers have just earned a comeback win over the Portland Trail Blazers off a game-winner from Furkan Korkmaz. That’s right. Furkan freaking Korkmaz. Someone whom I have always hated on Twitter, and never liked at any point in his 76ers tenure. After an abysmal start to the season, many Sixers fans were calling for him to lose his playing time. However, now, after back-to-back impressive performances and a game-winner, it may be time to re-evaluate the third year Turkish player.
His Career in review:
No matter how many game-winners Furkan Korkmaz will hit in his career (probably just one), he was still a bad pick at 26 in the 2016 NBA Draft. 27th in that draft? None other than the 20818-19 Most Improved Player of Year: Pascal Siakam. Philly also took Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot at 24 that year. (Thank goodness, Brian Colangelo had burners).
After spending a year playing in the Turkish League, Korkmaz came over before the start of the 2017-18 season. During his rookie year, Kork sustained a Lisfranc injury while on a G League assignment and only played 14 games in garbage time situations that year.
Korkmaz came into last seasons with higher expectations after he scored 40 points in a summer league game. He struggled in the regular season, however, and lost his spot in the rotation during the second half of the season after Philly acquired James Ennis III. Philly had declined his third-year player option, so I was surprised when Elton Brand brought him back on a two-year league minimum deal in July.
The issue with Furkan Korkmaz:
In short, this is the issue with Furkan Korkmaz. Korkmaz is a “sharpshooter” who has shot 32.6% from deep in his career. A “sharpshooter” who isn’t good at shooting threes and is a weak defender. Coming into this season, I had little to no expectations for Kork.
What led up to his late-game heroics:
When looking at this roster during pre-season, at no point did I envision Furkan Korkmaz being a role player on this team. Again, a “sharpshooter” who “was bad at shooting,” was not someone I wanted to see on the court.
As many members of the Philadelphia 76ers community and I expected, Korkmaz did not play well at the start of this season. Through his first three games of the season, Furkan shot just 2/8 from the field and 1/7 from deep while providing almost nothing off the bench. The reason Brett Brown was giving him looks was because the Sixers’ biggest weakness is their shooting. Again, to this point in his career, and even after last night’s game-winner, Korkmaz is just a theoretical three-point threat. Not only that, but the Sixers had a reliable replacement option: Shake Milton. Through three games, Milton had shot 4/9 from three and was doing a solid job spacing the floor. If it weren’t for a knee injury Milton suffered against Atlanta, Korkmaz might not be in the rotation right now or have had the opportunity to take a big shot last night.
When Korkmaz came out and bricked his first shot and then made a bad turnover against the Minnesota Timberwolves, I decided to run my mouth on twitter.
https://twitter.com/PodolskyDanny/status/1188971325001469952
Good thing Kork has made me eat my words. During that Timberwolves game, Furkan had one of the best games of his career, scoring 17 points on 5/10 shooting and 3/8 from deep.
That brings us to last night. Kork came out and hit two quick threes in the first half, as the Sixers were barely staying afloat in this game. Philly got down 21 in the third quarter, and I was about ready to go to bed. With unlikely help from Raul Neto, the Sixers went on a run at the end of the third and cut it to four with 10 minutes to play.
Portland and Philly kept exchanging blows until Anfernee Simons seemingly hit a dagger with 2.2 seconds remaining. I had zero faith in the Sixers to win the game at this point. The Sixers closer from last season, Jimmy Butler, was in Miami, and the guy expected to become the new closer, Joel Embiid, was sitting on the couch at home, suspended by the league for fighting for Karl-Anthony Towns.
And who does Brett Brown bring in to take the big shot?? Korkmaz!?!? Beautiful play design by Brett Brown got Kork an open look in the corner, and he drilled it for the win. Sixers improve to 5-0 and steal a game they had no business winning. And KORKMAZ is the hero!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyIy6RflmcI
Now I don’t know what to think:
Besides Amir Johnson and Greg Monroe, Korkmaz may be the 76ers player who I have criticized the most over the past few seasons. After the first three games of this season, I was entirely on board with benching, heck, even waiving Korkmaz and giving his minutes to Shake Milton. However, Korkmaz has earned himself consistent minutes at least until he goes back to playing poorly. Brett Brown has shown faith in him as a shooter, as well.
“I want to grow a three-point bomber. Tonight, he wasn’t bashful,” said Brown about Korkmaz after Philly’s win over Minnesota.
Kork has also been criticized for his defense, but he’s more active defensively so far, as he’s drawn three charges on the season, including two against Portland. Would it shock me if Furkan went 0/8 in his next game and looks terrible? No. In fact, I’m almost expecting it. But the Sixers need shooting, and it’s worth giving Furkan Korkmaz another chance. I genuinely can’t believe the words I just said.
The Sixers remain the only undefeated team in the NBA, and their next game is Monday night against the Phoenix Suns.
