Philadelphia 76ers: Furkan Korkmaz is back in more ways than one

Furkan Korkmaz, apparently, isn’t a huge fan of fall.

Maybe he’s afraid of turkeys, maybe he’s allergic to pumpkin spice, I don’t really know, but when that air started to cool and the last days of summer came to a close, Furkie’s shot froze like a Baja Blast left out in a snow storm.

Fans called for a trade – which probably can’t happen due to the unique circumstances of his contract – and things got so bad that even Doc Rivers, a man notorious for sticking to his rotation, started to tail off Korkmaz’s run before he ultimately left the lineup for the better part of two weeks due to illness.

Sure, #FRK stock was at an all-time low just as the holiday season came to the City of Brotherly Love, but in a true twist of Christmas cheer, things turned around for both the Philadelphia 76ers and their Turkish Delight as he went off in his second game back.

Happy Holidays to all.

The Philadelphia 76ers need Furkan Korkmaz to heat back up.

When Furkan Korkmaz is on, he’s a perfect complementary player for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Sure, he’s always been able to shoot 3s, play defense, and disrupt opponent passes, but in the early part of the 2021-22 season, Korkmaz was handling the ball, distributing to his teammates, and providing the Sixers with a second option in their clutch time closing lineups.

Life was good. Barely a calendar season removed from signing a three-year, $15 million contract, Korkmaz looked like one of the Sixers’ best value players and the sort of complementary piece who could put in work sandwiched between Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid in a variety of different lineups.

If that player can come back, which certainly looked to be the case versus the Washington Wizards – albeit without Bradley Beal – the Sixers will be in a very good place moving forward.

Versus Atlanta, in his first game back since December 13th, Korkmaz’s on-court time was forgettable. He played a little over 22 minutes, scored six points, and missed all three of his shots from beyond the arc. After two weeks away, it looked like nothing had changed for Korkmaz, and he watched on seemingly helplessly as his team dropped a stunner to a Hawks squad down three of their six best players.

In our nation’s capital, however, a light switch flipped, and summer Furk was back to his old self.

Korkmaz looked confident with the ball in his hands, smooth without it, and remained engaged at both ends of the court, as his end-of-the-second-quarter steal clearly showcased. While Korkmaz’s production was largely held to just the first two quarters, as he scored eight more points in the first half than the second, he still finished out the game with 14 points in 15 minutes and his two 3s in one game, each being the first time that has happened since all the way back on November 22nd.

Has Korkmaz had a tryptophan hangover since Thanksgiving? If so, I’m glad it finally passed.

Look, I’m going to be realistic here: Furkan Korkmaz isn’t fixed. He’s still going to have games where he scores in single digits, misses all of his 3s, and just generally looks lost, but after a month of games just like that, it’s nice to see the Philadelphia 76ers’ top reserve winger look more like his old self, especially since he’s historically played much better in February, March, and April than in November and early December. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.