Philadelphia 76ers Need Help; Furkan Aldemir Is Coming

The Philadelphia 76ers are the current laughingstock of the NBA as they currently boast the worst record in the NBA at 0-17 and are only two losses away from the worst start in NBA history.

This is understandable with a roster at hand that simply was not built to succeed and head coach Brett Brown can use all of the possible help he can gather as the Sixers fight and scrap for their first win and ultimately seek to not be seen as the worst team in NBA history.

Well, it won’t come in the form of a superstar, but anything helps when you’re the Sixers and according to several reports, Turkish forward Furkan Aldemir is on his way to the NBA and Philadelphia possesses the rights to the 23-year-old, 6-foot-9, 230-pound power forward.

Aldemir is expected to be in Philadelphia within the coming week after contractual issues with Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball League, where Galatasary failed to pay Aldemir’s salary for five months.

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Reports also said that Aldemir was willing to stay with Galatasaray if they were able to pay his salary by Monday, but there was never a resolution.

Well, for the Sixers, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure and although Aldemir isn’t exactly a prized possession, he brings with him a skill set that has been desperately lacking in Philadelphia thus far through the winless season.

For those who have seen much, if any, of Aldemir, you’re aware he’s exceptionally skilled around the basket offensively. He’s got a knack for finding ways to score around the rim and has a deceptive athleticism that should allow him to become one of the Sixers’ most enjoyable players to watch if he’s able to have any success on the NBA level.

From the time Alddemir arrives in The City of Brotherly Love, he will likely be slotted as the Sixers’ third option at power forward behind Nerlens Noel and Brandon Davies.

This doesn’t seem like a great opportunity, but considering guys like JaKarr Sampson and Drew Gordon have been able to come in and see 10.4 minutes and 7.9 minutes respectively, Aldemir will surely see his fair share of time to prove himself and contribute to a winless team that needs plenty of help in the paint.

Up to this point, Philly hasn’t really found a reliable option in the paint. Yes, Nerlens Noel is starting to get into a bit of a rhythm offensively, but when you look at Davies, Sampson and even Henry Sims, you’ll find that the Sixers’ big actually tend to stay outside the immediate area surrounding the rim and try to rely on jump shots to build success.

When you don’t have your big men really trying to make effort to attack the rim, you often settle for lower percentage shots, draw fewer fouls, which leads to easy points at the line, and ultimately, make yourselves much easier to defend with the easiest area to score isn’t being utilized.

This is where Aldemir can be a valued piece for the Sixers. Again, he finds his success around and above the rim and for a team that’s struggling to find easy shots and shooting 41 percent from the field, that helps tremendously.

Of course, we still have to wait to see how his game translates to the NBA and Philly shouldn’t expect to get a star by any means, but Aldemir brings a skill set that’s currently lacking and nobody in Philadelphia is going to reject that.

Aldemir is expected to sign a four-year deal with Philadelphia, with the first two seasons guaranteed.

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