Furkan Korkmaz dealt with nerve damage in hand last season

With the Philadelphia 76ers adding P.J. Tucker, De’Anthony Melton, and Danuel House Jr. to the wing rotation for the upcoming season, Furkan Korkmaz will be in a battle for any deep bench minutes that might come his way. The main question concerning his viability for a final rotation spot is whether he’ll be the player that shot 40.2 percent and 37.5 percent from three in 2019-20 and 2020-21, respectively, or the guy that struggled at 28.9 percent last season. But maybe there was a reason for his drop in 2021-22?

At Monday’s Media Day, Korkmaz was asked about last season’s exit interviews and how he had identified what was wrong with his shot. He revealed the following:

“I had a little nerve damage, starting since the All-Star Break of last year. And then that gives me a little bit, losing the sensation in my fingers and stuff. It was a little bit about injury too. And then I lost my rhythm, my mechanic little change, it was like little changes. I lost feeling, but we couldn’t really tell what was going on. During the summer, I had enough time to do, like, what’s really going on and then treat it. I had rehab for almost two months. I had a good time to get better. And now, I’m like, I’m feeling good. I’m feeling much better. On a team like that, I cannot wait to just go out there and play.”

While Furkan’s down year isn’t completely explained by suffering nerve damage around the All-Star Break, his numbers did drop even further around that time. Let’s look at his shooting splits from last season:

Pre-All-Star: .396 FG%, .298 3PT%, .833 FT%, .512 TS%
Post-All-Star: .328 FG%, .237 3PT%, .667 FT%, .435 TS%

A hypothesis: Korkmaz was already in a slump, but after suffering the nerve damage, things took a complete nosedive. He has asserted to be feeling better after this summer’s rehab, and while the numbers weren’t stellar across a small four-game sample size in EuroBasket (6-of-19 from three, 31.6 percent), he had some big moments and certainly wasn’t afraid to defend his country’s honor off the court.

Korkmaz remains a theoretical good fit for this Sixers roster: somebody with a quick release who isn’t afraid to let it fire off a Joel Embiid kick-out or a James Harden skip pass. Given this nerve damage revelation, I’m slightly more optimistic that Furkan will be able to put his down 2021-22 season behind him, and once again be a contributor for Philadelphia.