Furkan Korkmaz Loaned to Pinar Karsiyaka

Fresh off being selecting with the 26th pick in this past summer’s NBA draft and becoming the 76ers’ newest international fascination, Furkan Korkmaz of Anadolu Efes seemed poised for a nice season in the Turkish Basketball League. Things have not gone so smoothly, however, for Furkan II.

In 12 games this season, Korkmaz has averaged just 11.7 minutes per game for Efes. This problem is common for youngsters in Europe, as clubs there tend to gravitate towards playing veterans over promising prospects. Sixers fans saw it happen with Dario Saric and Efes for two years. A change in what club he plays for could be just the switch he needs, as news broke today via Baskethaberciniz that Efes is loaning Korkmaz to fellow TBL club Pinar Karsiyaka, who play in İzmir, Turkey.

More playing time, regardless of where he’s getting, is key to Korkmaz’s progress at this stage of his development. His shot from deep is still connecting in the limited opportunities he’s gotten this season, making 42.3 percent of the 26 three-pointers he’s taken. Going to a situation where he can get more looks offensively and more reps on the other side of the ball to improve his wing defense, is certainly a positive.

Given that the Sixers are starving for young wing talent, hopefully this move for Korkmaz allows him to be the player Bryan Colangelo envisioned he would become when he moves stateside, possibly in 2018.