Philadelphia 76ers: Furkan Aldemir In For A Heightened Role?

If you’€™ve never heard of some guy named Furkan Aldemir, you’€™re not alone.

If you actually have heard of this Furkan Aldemir fellow, you quite likely live within the City of Brotherly Love’€™s borders, and even then, it’s probably safe to say less than a third of Philadelphia’€™s 1.5 million-plus residents fit into that category.

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If you exclude media members and sports writers, die-hard Philadelphia 76ers enthusiasts –€“ the kind that spend $200 on League Pass to assure they catch each an every one of the Sixers’€™ 82 games –€“ and those working within the 76ers organization itself, you’€™ll have a number that likely resembles the amount of points Aldemir accrued last season –€“ 93.

Point being: Of all the guys on the Sixers roster that are relatively unknown to the NBA masses, Aldemir still gets the short end of the stick, and understandably so.

March 24, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Furkan Aldemir (19) looks on during the third quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena. The Kings defeated the 76ers 107-106. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

While Sam Hinkie’€™s Sixers played 25 different guys and had a bevy of rotational players consuming minutes in the frontcourt, the first-year power forward watched from the sidelines far more often than he played. But with a frontcourt that now features fewer options and depth, Aldemir could be in for a heightened role, and even an extensive one, with the Sixers in his second season.

As an NBA rookie, Furkan was buried on a roster that became a revolving door of additions and dismissals, and as you could expect, the rotations were hardly ever consistent with such instability at hand. Consequently, Aldemir played only 13.2 minutes per night and saw action in exactly half of Philly’€™s games –€“ 41.

Considering Aldemir isn’€™t anything more than an NBA prospect at this point, that shouldn’t come as a surprise, as he was sharing clock with each of the following:

Nerlens Noel: 75 games played, 30.8 minutes per game
Henry Sims: 73 games played, 19.2 minutes per game
Thomas Robinson: 22 games played, 18.5 minutes per game
Luc Mbah a Moute: 67 games played, 28.6 minutes per game
Brandon Davies: 20 games played, 19 minutes per game
JaVale McGee: 6 games played, 10.2 minutes per game
Malcolm Thomas: 17 games played, 11.4 minutes per game
Drew Gordon: 9 games played, 7.9 minutes per game

Outside of Noel, everyone on this list will be elsewhere for the upcoming season. In other words, the Sixers frontcourt, and roster as a whole, was a revolving door yet again last season, and for Aldemir to still have a home in Philly suggests the value they see in him only days away from training camp.

When you look over Aldemir’€™s rookie numbers, it’€™s difficult to get a full understanding of the impact he’€™s capable of making. Per game, Aldemir averaged only 2.3 points and 4.3 rebounds. But when you amp those numbers up to per 36 averages, Aldemir churns out 6.2 points and an extremely impressive 11.7 boards; a number that tops Noel’s per 36 rebound total of 9.5 with relative ease.

But then again, when you’€™re deep amidst a frontcourt rotation of prospects and seeing only 13.2 minutes of action each night on average, it’s hard to have much of an impact.

But fast forward to a month before the 2015-16 NBA season, and we may be in for a considerably improved Aldemir, and his role may follow suit, with some help from the Sixers’€™ current frontcourt situation.

In his most recent outings during the Utah Summer League, Aldemir displayed some notable improvement that may help him garner some more playing time. Look no further than his double-double against the Summer League Boston Celtics, compiling 11 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks to top the effort off.

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The rebounding numbers don’€™t come as much of a surprise considering his per 36 numbers are in the same ballpark, but the newfound confidence he revealing while knocking down three triples after not hitting a single three last season is worth noting.

Also worth some praise is Aldemir leading the Utah Summer League in rebounder per game with 13.3, a 3.6-rebound per game advantage over Jack Cooley‘s 9.7.

Of course, playing 29.7 minutes per game helps, in addition to it being Summer League competition, but it should certainly be taken as a sign of improvement, nonetheless.

So where does this improvement leave Aldemir within the Sixers current paint rotation?

Noel and rookie center Jahlil Okafor are the clear-cut starters down low. Outside of Noel and Okafor, Aldemir, along with offseason acquisition Carl Landry and rookie Richaun Holmes are the only depth the Sixers have down low.

Holmes had some flashes in Summer League action, while Landry has proven to be a role player worth a handful of points each game, but neither can play center, which Aldemir proved he could last season.

Noel will surely continue to see some minutes at center when he remains in the game while Okafor takes a seat, but just as often will be Aldemir coming in for Okafor with Noel molding his game to become a true power forward.

Mar 30, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Ryan Kelly (4) drives to the basket between Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (4) and forward Furkan Aldemir (19) during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Also, with the Sixers current training camp roster at 20, there’s a possibility that Philly cuts Landry before the season begins, leaving Aldemir and Holmes as the distinguished backups. But that said; there’€™s also the possibility of Jerami Grant assuming minutes at power forward, as he did on 13 percent of his minutes last season.

With numerous teams having adopted the small-ball formula, playing more versatile options at power forward, Grant would serve as the best option in those situations, outside of Noel, of course.

Regardless of how it ultimately shapes up, the Sixers frontcourt depth and rotation will be much less crowded than it was in 2014-15, and Aldemir will likely be the biggest beneficiary.

He’€™s the only backup that can play center, the only backup with experience in the Sixers system and has film to support offseason improvement worthy of a some court time on a team that will see more than it’€™s fair share of losses.

With the Sixers expected to enter the 2016 NBA Draft with four first-round selections, and with the overseas sensation, power forward Dario Saric, set to join Philadelphia in 2016, this season may be the last opportunity Aldemir has to prove he’€™s a keeper in Philly.

With a heightened role on the horizon and an offseason of improvement, what can Aldemir show us with that opportunity?

Next: NBA: Complete Offseason Grades For All 30 Teams

Philadelphia 76ers: Furkan Aldemir In For A Heightened Role?

By Cody Daniel | Sep 27, 2015

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