Philadelphia 76ers: Is Furkan Korkmaz a playoff liability?

One-way players don’t really work in the playoffs, Philadelphia 76ers fans.

For the vast majority of the 2019-20 NBA season, a season that’s been going on for 10 months and counting, Furkan Korkmaz has been the Philadelphia 76ers‘ sixth-best player.

Sure, technically Korkmaz ranks seventh in scoring behind Alec Burks, but the Golden State transplant has only played 16 games for Brett Brown’s squad so far this season, so that number is sorta eh. Korkmaz, by contrast, has appeared in 69 games, scored over 20 points five times, and over 30 twice, in back to back February contests against the Memphis Grizzlies and the Charlotte Hornets respectfully.

When the Sixers need a good, clean 3 pointer, they turn to Korkmaz. When they need a little extra firepower coming off the bench, they turn to Korkmaz. And you’d best believe if the Sixers need someone to do a slam dunk wearing a gosh darn Darth Vader mask, they are going to turn to Korkmaz. However, when the playoffs come around, Brett Brown may be wise to turn elsewhere when it comes to calibrating his eight-to-nine man rotation.

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Why? One word: Defense.

For all of the good Korkmaz occasionally added to the fray on the offensive end of the court, he makes some plays – or doesn’t – on defense that are downright ugly. With Trey Burke officially balling out as a member of the Dallas Mavericks, it’s not particularly controversial to call Korkmaz the 76ers’ worst overall defender; a statement backed up numerically by ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus.

Despite having solid enough size for an NBA shooting guard at 6-foot-7, 190 pounds, Korkmaz is a sloppy switcher, an inefficient man defender, and one of the easiest-tricked recipients of a foul-baiting shot fake this side of the Wells Fargo Center crowd that had the displeasure of witnessing Markelle Fultz’s infamous pump fake free throw.

Again, he’ll make up for one of these plays with a nothing but net swisher from beyond the arc, or even a pretty mid-range J the likes of which is virtually extinct in the new 3-and-D-era of basketball but in the playoffs, when a team is only rolling with a handful of players coming off the bench, how many head-scratching defensive mishaps can one player make before they are relegated to the bench indefinitely?

I’m guessing we’ll find out in the not too distant future.

With Ben Simmons out for the rest of the playoffs (probably), Al Horford is all but certainly going to retain his former role as the 76ers’ starting power forward until the wheels fall off. His 34-38 minutes a game, when coupled with Tobias Harris’ ability to play either forward position, should soak up most of the available minutes at power forward in an eight-man rotation. If Glenn Robinson III remains healthy, a legitimate question mark considering his recent hip issues, his presence should soak up any remaining minutes at the small forward too, leaving only minutes at point and shooting guard for Korkmaz to play – barring, of course, another no-center lineup the likes of which Brett Brown deployed against the Portland Trail Blazers in Joel Embiid’s absence.

Alright, cool. In Simmons’ absence, Shake Milton has played well enough at point guard, and Josh Richardson, though spotty, is undoubtedly a lock to finish out the season at shooting guard, with Alec Burks and Matisse Thybulle backing the duo up at their respective positions. Has Korkmaz shown you anything that suggests he should be playing over Burks, arguably the Sixers’ hottest shooter, or Thybulle, arguably the Sixers’ best backcourt defender?

No, Philadelphia 76ers fans, the answer is no.

If Coach Brown is simply going to roll with the same eight guys night-in and night-out then yeah, it’s hard to see Korkmaz earning serious minutes when GRIII, Burks, and Thybulle should all be averaging in the mid-20s, but you know, that doesn’t have to be the case. In actuality, Brown can totally let his lineups sag and contract like Joey Chestnut’s waistline depending on the series, game, or even sequence, depending on how things are shaking out. Maybe the Sixers need to optimize shooting and put Korkmaz on the court over a player like Horford? Or they go all-in on ball handling and roll with a three-guard lineup featuring Milton, Richardson, and Burks – none of whom are traditional point guards, by the way.

Assuming the Philadelphia 76ers are willing to get creative – which is sort of a weak spot of Brett Brown’s contention-era – there are a ton of options available to present interesting looks with players like Raul Neto, Mike Scott, and Norvel Pelle. However, if things go as they usually do and Ime Udoka’s boss sticks to the rigid eight-man rotation he initially suggested before the season resumed on August 1st, there really shouldn’t be a spot in it for Furkan Korkmaz, as he’s just too inconsistent on the defensive end to keep up his offense’s end of the bargain.