Philadelphia 76ers: Furkan Korkmaz succeeded where TLC could not

In the 2016 NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers selected Furkan Korkmaz and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot two picks apart. But why has Korkmaz stuck around over TLC?

The Philadelphia 76ers drafted three players in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Of them, all three remain in the NBA to this day and have even earned second contracts.

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The first player the Sixers selected just so happened to be the first player selected in the 2016 NBA Draft, Ben Simmons. You know Ben Simmons, right? 6-10. Lightning-fast point forward. Triple-double machine? He’s really good at basketball.

After two exemplary seasons on the heels of a redshirted rookie campaign, Simmons signed a max deal before the 2019-20 season and had become all but untouchable thanks to some seriously elevated play, fantastic defense, and an occasional 3 pointer.

But to truly optimize Simmons post-trial coming out of LSU, Colangelo knew he needed to surround the Australian wonder with versatile, big wings who can knock down a 3 and play a lil’ D.

Colangelo used his next two picks to address that very need.

With the 24th and 26th overall picks in the 2016 NBA Draft, the Sixers selected a pair of 6-foot-7 European forwards in Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Furkan Korkmaz.

Now if you’ve watched the Sixers with any frequency over the last four years, you’re surely familiar with TLC and Korkmaz. The duo bounced around from potential starters to bench contributors to non-factors over their (slightly) overlapping tenure with the team, but what you may not know is whatever happened to Luwawu-Cabarrot since he left the City of Brotherly Love.

Initially shipped to Oklahoma City in a three-team trade that also featured Justin Anderson, Mike Muscala, Dennis Schröder, and… Carmelo Anthony(?), TLC was a non-factor with the Thunder before spending equally unimpressive tenures with the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Things got so bleak for TLC that he wasn’t even offered a one-year deal in free agency this summer, instead accepting a two-way deal with the Nets of Brooklyn.

And as for Korkmaz? Well, he almost fell to a very similar fate.

After having his third-year option declined midway through the 2018-19 season, Kormaz returned to Philly on a one-year minimum deal with no guaranteed role.

But with J.J. Redick gone, Korkmaz had a chance to shine – a chance he ran with.

While Korkmaz never quite developed into as strong a defender as TLC, he’s been a far more effective outside shooter over his career. In 2019-20, his numbers are far from elite, as his 35.7 percent from outside on 4.3 outside attempts is aggressively average, but he’s at least scoring the ball with enough regularity to remain a viable piece coming off the bench.

Korkmaz has also scored in double digits nine times, one less than Luwawu-Cabarrot over the entire 2017-18 campaign. Granted, Korkmaz still has a ways to go to match TLC’s 26 double-digit games as a member of the Sixers, but 16 of those games came on the 28-win 2016-17 squad, so do they even really count?

Maybe with an asterisk.

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Now, if Luwawu-Cabarrot can find a way to put things together offensively, the Nets may have found a steal on a two-way deal who could effortlessly replace Garret Temple down the line, but for the Philadelphia 76ers, TLC’s tippy top upside was Matisse Thybulle now, making his exclusion from the roster a much easier pill to swallow. As for Furkan Korkmaz, well, the ball is in his court. If he can put it all together and establish himself as a sixth man scorer once and for all, he may very well earn a new deal. And if not, he too could go the way of his 2016 draft classmate.