Sixers Keep Furkan Korkmaz as Trade Deadline Passes By

The latest on Furkan Korkmaz.

With the 2023 NBA trade deadline officially in the rearview, the Philadelphia 76ers will not have an opportunity to make any deals with other teams until the 2023 offseason. Now that the deadline is in the past, Sixers veteran Furkan Korkmaz now knows where he’ll finish the rest of the season.

The Sixers completed just one trade before the deadline on Thursday afternoon. After weeks of speculation, Philadelphia concluded trade talks surrounding Matisse Thybulle by shipping off the veteran wing to join the Portland Trail Blazers. 

In the agreement, the Sixers received multiple second-round picks and Jalen McDaniels from the Charlotte Hornets. While many might’ve assumed that Korkmaz could potentially get dealt before the deadline, the Turkish sharpshooter is in Philly to stay for now.

Korkmaz’s time with the Sixers seemed bound to end soon, considering earlier in the week, the veteran sharpshooter reportedly requested a trade from the Sixers. While Korkmaz wouldn’t come out and confirm the rumors, he wouldn’t deny them, either. Also, he made it clear that he wanted to be on the court playing, hinting that he would be open to doing so for another organization if not the Sixers.

Although Korkmaz has had a steady role in Philadelphia over the years, he’s struggled to stay on the court during the 2022-2023 NBA season. In 25 games, Korkmaz averaged ten minutes on the floor, his lowest amount of playing time since his rookie season in 2017-2018, when he averaged six minutes.

With his playing time lacking, Korkmaz averaged just four points while struggling from three, draining just 34 percent of his shots. The Sixers always had high hopes of Korkmaz panning out and becoming a reliable sharpshooting reserve. 

While he showed flashes over two seasons, averaging ten points while knocking down 39 percent of his threes from 2019 to 2021, Korkmaz saw his numbers took a dip last year. The decline continued in 2022-2023, and Korkmaz just wanted an opportunity to try and turn things around for himself.

It’s unclear if he’ll get an opportunity to earn his spot back in the rotation or not, but Korkmaz will have to remain on Philadelphia’s roster as they couldn’t find a trade suitor before the deadline kicked in.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.

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