Philadelphia 76ers: Eventually, Furkan Korkmaz’s shot will fall, right?

The 2021 NBA playoffs were very, very good for Philadelphia 76ers winger Furkan Korkmaz.

After working through the regular season with roughly the same stat line as the season prior, averaging 9.1 points in 19.3 minutes of action while hitting 37.5 percent of his shots from 3, Korkmaz broke into Doc Rivers‘ playoff rotation and instantly became the team’s de facto sixth man. In games where Korkmaz was given at least 10 minutes of action coming off the bench, the player eventually known as the “Turkish Delight” averaged 10.2 points and .8 steals, while draining 50 percent of his shots from beyond the arc and 56.25 percent of his shots from the field.

Had Korkmaz remained in that role, maybe the Sixers would have won out against the Atlanta Hawks, and who knows where the franchise would be at this point, but alas, it just wasn’t meant to be. Danny Green suffered what amounted to a season-ending injury in Game 3 versus Atlanta, Korkmaz was elevated to the starting lineup, and while he averaged more points per game over his final four games of the playoff, the team wasn’t able to overcome losing his points off their bench and thus, had some tough showings in the fourth quarter that probably aren’t worth relitigating.

Fast forward to 2021-22, and the recently extended Korkmaz has developed into a real asset for the Sixers, averaging a little over 10 points a game while filling a new, hybrid role as a spot-up shooter/secondary playmaker on the second unit.

That’s the good news. The bad news? Korkmaz’s 3 point shooting efficiency has been putrid in the month of November, which has prevented his numbers from being as impressive as they could be. With any luck, that will change in the not-too-distant future alongside the Philadelphia 76ers’ fortunes.

The Philadelphia 76ers need to get Furkan Korkmaz’s shot back on track.

On November 8th, the Philadelphia 76ers took on the New York Knicks on the hallowed hardwoods of “The Center.” Though they ultimately lost that game by seven points, Furkan Korkmaz showed out very well in the contest, scoring in double-digits for the fourth-straight game, and made 5-12 shots from beyond the arc.

Now granted, that wasn’t Korkmaz’s best game of the season to that point, that honor actually came the game prior when he hit 7-9 from beyond the arc to score 25 points in 32 minutes of action, but no one is going to complain when a complementary player scores 19 points, especially when Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, and Matisse Thybulle are all sidelined.

When said game came to a close, Korkamz’s stat line was as follows, 13.1 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 24.2 minutes of action a night, while hitting 42.4 percent of his 5.9 3 point attempts per game. All in all, not too shabby, especially when you consider Korkmaz only played 30-plus minutes in two of those 10 contests.

But since then, Korkmaz has been a completely different player.

It all started the very next night versus the Milwaukee Bucks, where Korkmaz hit 1-12 shots from beyond the arc and finished out the game with five points in over 44 minutes on the court. From there, Korkmaz has only scored double-digit points in one game – in a winning effort versus the lowly Sacramento Kings – and has made 21.3 percent of his 5.9 3 pointers per game.

Yikes.

Now, if you have a keen analytical eye, you’ll surely have noticed that Korkmaz has taken the very same average number of 3 point attempts over the first 10 games of the season as he has over the final eight; he’s just making them at a far lower clip. If Korkmaz made 1.2 more 3s a game, his average points per game would jump from 6.6 back up to 10.2, which would be a very nice improvement, even if his shooing percentage from 2 point range would still hold him about a shot and a half away from his early-season average.

Fortunately, the impending returns of Harris and Embiid should help to ease the burden placed on Korkmaz’s shoulders and thus give him a better chance to succeed in a lower-pressure role.

Recall, if you will, what feels like a year ago when the Sixers were at full strength, and Korkmaz was one of the more entertaining players to watch when he put sole to hardwood. He was playing a weird, semi-point guard role due to Shake Milton‘s absence and was among the best fourth-quarter scorers in the association. Since more and more of the offensive burden has been placed on his shoulders, Korkmaz has been taking lower percentage shots, dribbling around a whole lot more, and just generally playing a not-so-winning brand of basketball.

If Korkmaz can return to his looser ways, take advantage of easier shots, and provide the team with some secondary playmaking alongside Tyrese Maxey or Milton, he’ll be back to his winning ways in no time. If not, the Sixers may need to start giving more minutes to a player like Isaiah Joe in the hopes of securing more dynamic performances out of their bench unit or start scouring the trade market for an overall upgrade.

Needless to say, this next stretch of games could go a long way in defining Korkmaz’s role moving forward.

On December 15th, (almost) every player who signed a free agent deal this summer will become trade eligible. While Furkan Korkmaz isn’t one of those players, as he signed an extension that kicks his trade date back to March – after the trade deadline – there are literally over a hundred players who fit the bill and could conceivably help to elevate the Philadelphia 76ers’ roster up a notch if they’re brought to town. If Korkmaz can recapture his early-season efficiency, maybe he’ll remain in the Sixers’ rotation moving forward; if not, he may fall further down Doc Rivers’ depth chart and have his role limited as a result.