Philadelphia 76ers Should Draft, Stash Guard Furkan Korkmaz

Regardless of who the Philadelphia 76ers select first overall, moving up and drafting Furkan Korkmaz would be a nice addition as a shooter in Round 1.

With all the talk surrounding the No. 1 pick, the other draft picks haven’t been discussed for the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers also own the 24th and 26th overall picks in the draft — two picks that might be able to help the franchise out.

Of all the thoughts I’ve seen on these picks, they’ve been surrounded by trading these picks for players who might be able to help turn the franchise around now. 

Still, the one option that persists is draft and stash. The Sixers have a ton of young talent already on the roster to evaluate at the moment, so what’s placing a talent overseas to come over for one or two more seasons before bringing him over to the NBA?

Bryan Colangelo’s draft history is full of several drafted players, but just one talent that stayed overseas — Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas.

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However, Colangelo should look towards the draft and stash route and use both first round picks to move up and select Furkan Korkmaz.

As the Jeff Teague-for-Nerlens Noel trade rumors evolved last week, Keith Pompey of Philly.com added an extra detail — forward Robert Covington and guard Nik Stauskas might be involved in the deal, as a part of a bigger deal.

The potential trade of both players would leave Philadelphia without two decent three-point shooters from beyond the arc. In Covington’s case, it removes a pretty decent defender from the mix, too.

That’s where Furkan Korkmaz comes in.

The 18-year-old Korkmaz has that in spades. In his last two seasons, Korkmaz has knocked down better than 39 percent of his threes. He has a sweet stroke from beyond the arc and can find his shot in various ways, whether it’s catch-and-shoot opportunities or creating for himself.

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As we see on various levels in today’s game, having a wing player who can create and knock down threes is a good addition to any offense.

However, Korkmaz isn’t just a three-point shooter. At 6-foot-7, Korkmaz could put the ball on the deck a little bit, but not much. He’s also a decent passer, capable of creating for others without turning the ball over — an underrated trait in draft prospects.

Simply put: The ability for a wing player to pass the ball without giving it to the other team and shoot the ball from three at a 40 percent clip is a desirable trait.

Still, there are some weaknesses in his game, and ultimately, why he’s returning back overseas for at least one more season, which according to David Pick, seems to be the case. 

Korkmaz has the size you want, but he’s very thin, coming in at just 180 pounds if that. Those guys — tall wings with zero weight to them — tend to get worked over in the NBA by bigger guards who can post them or run them through screens.

Add to it that he’s 18 and it’s easy to see why he’d be a net negative early on defense in his career. Add 10-15 pounds and he’ll have a better chance in that aspect.

Korkmaz is also a bit raw in terms of ball-handling. He can drive, but doesn’t always get to the basket. He can tend to get lost in the middle of the floor when to dribble, which hurts his offense, creating the random offensive discord on occasion.

Having more time create and work on his ball-handling could allow him to be an even better offensive player in time and again, getting a bit bigger and putting some weight on, should allow him to not only get to the rim but finish at the rim with more consistency.

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For Philadelphia, Korkmaz makes sense to me as someone who could eventually serve as someone who can space the floor and even add a little bit more in his game.

He’s already a fine passer, but if he could create in the pick-and-roll, that’s just another passer and floor spacer on your roster. You always want good defenders on the roster, but Korkmaz, as of now, projects to be someone who will be a negative defender. 

The bigger question is can Philadelphia move up to acquire him? Korkmaz is in an interesting spot as a first-round pick and several teams could look to draft him and stash him for a season.

It doesn’t help either that a team like the Denver Nuggets, notorious for their work overseas, holds three picks ahead of Philadelphia. The Chicago Bulls seems like an ideal candidate to move with it, but I can envision them just keeping the 14th pick.

Still, something with the Bulls makes sense, as a part of a larger deal.

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The Sixers are still figuring out their roster and what to do with the No. 1 pick. Still, if no one interests them at the bottom of the first round, packaging those two picks to move up for Korkmaz makes sense to me.