Furkan Korkmaz shows off in international friendly game vs. Slovenia

Furkan Korkmaz didn’t have the best season with the Sixers in 2021-22. His production and efficiency fell off significantly as the quick-trigger three-point shooting that had helped him carve out regular minutes with the team fell below 30 percent.

That said, he’s having a pretty good summer when it comes to his latest international play.

In Turkey’s thrilling 104-103 overtime defeat against Slovenia on Friday, a friendly game as the teams prepare for the upcoming EuroBasket and FIBA World Cup, Korkmaz went off. He scored 33 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists.

Korkmaz’s jumper may be the least exciting play in the following clip, but what a sequence kicked off by some super crafty dribbling and playmaking from Luka Doncic.

At the end of regulation, Korkmaz even made a clutch basket with a tough, contested runner off glass to send the game to overtime:

With some nifty drives and his pull-up three working on his way to hitting five triples, Korkmaz put together a well-rounded scoring performance. His big night just wasn’t quite enough to lead Turkey to victory.

Korkmaz is a bit of an odd man out when looking ahead to the Sixers’ 2022-23 roster. The team is simply far deeper on the wing in the spots where Korkmaz could previously fight for minutes due to the additions of Danuel House Jr., P.J. Tucker and De’Anthony Melton (who can play the 2 or shift up to the 3 in smaller lineups). With all these new acquisitions capable of playing solid (or better) two-way play, it’s hard to see Korkmaz finding consistent minutes. Especially when he already slipped out of the rotation at times last season and barely played in the playoffs. If he isn’t hitting threes at a high rate, his improved yet still very limited defense isn’t going to cut it.

Nevertheless, Korkmaz did turn himself into a decent role player (at least in the regular season) over 2019-20 and 2020-21 as he hit 39 percent of his triples on good volume. Even if he can’t reestablish himself in a real role with the Sixers, perhaps he can settle in a contributing role elsewhere if he’s moved in the future.

For now, hopefully he can just enjoy some strong international play. Turkey have four more friendly games before their next FIBA World Cup qualifier against Latvia on Aug. 25.