Philadelphia 76ers: Does Furkan Korkmaz have a future in Philly?

Farewell Furkan

While it certainly makes sense to keep Korkmaz around if he can continue to shoot 4-7 from 3-point range while recording 18 points and eight rebounds a night, recency bias can, unfortunately, flatter even the most hot and cold NBA players.

So far this calendar year, Korkmaz has been the textbook definition of a hot and cold player.

For every monster performance, like his summer league coming out party, Korkmaz has experienced dozens of games where he’s played and scored in single digits.

Is that kind of output worth a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal? Probably not, as it didn’t even inspire Elton Brand to pick up the second year forward’s third-year option, but it may for some other team in need of a young, high upside volume scorer.

Retaining Korkmaz at a reasonable number, even on a one-year deal is almost a no-brainer, but what if a team like the Suns, Nets, or Magic were to offer him a 3-year contract worth, say $8 million a year?

Sure, the Sixers can totally afford that, and it could even prove to be a bargain if Korkmaz continues to develop along his current career trajectory, but would they really be willing to take on that risk with max-level contracts for Ben Simmons and Jimmy Butler looming just over the horizon?

While Korkmaz could, in theory, develop into a Gordon Hayward-level forward capable of starting alongside Simmon, Butler and Wilson Chandler (or whoever fills his slot next season) in a post-J.J. Redick world, he could also become a Jerryd Bayless-level albatross around the team’s next for multiple seasons, one that could prevent the team from making essential addition moving forward? Totally.

Baring a rapid development over the next 50 games, or an uncharacteristically soft market for his services next summer, it may be wise to avoid getting into a bidding war for Kormaz’s services to prevent an unnecessarily lean on the team’s soon to be expensive salary cap.