Sixers' Furkan Korkmaz Left Frustrated After Suffering Early Injury
After a frustrating two-year stint to start his NBA career, Turkish guard Furkan Korkmaz wasn't sure what was next for him as the Sixers declined his option for last season. After thinking about possibly heading home and resuming his career outside of the NBA, Korkmaz found himself back in Philly once again on a two-year deal.
By putting the past aside and working even harder, Korkmaz ended up having the best season of his career in 2019-2020 as he averaged 40-percent from beyond-the-arc and put up 9.8 points-per-game in 72 matchups last year.
This year, the Sixers have different personnel in place and shook up the coaching staff. It was unclear who Doc Rivers and his new staff would favor outside of the starting lineup, but Korkmaz won over his new head coach this offseason.
As training camp and the preseason went on, the praise for Korkmaz was nonstop from Rivers. By the time the first game of the season approached, Rivers had made it apparent that Korkmaz would have a critical role this season as he's a part of Rivers' ten-man rotation. Unfortunately, an injury set Korkmaz back.
Last Sunday, during the third quarter of the loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Korkmaz suffered a left adductor strain. His injury forced him to come out of the game without returning and will also keep him off the court for multiple weeks.
While the Sixers' medical staff will re-evaluate Korkmaz in two weeks, returning then is not a guarantee. Although dealing with a setback early on in the year is better than missing time during the postseason, Korkmaz, as expected, admits his setback didn't sit right with him considering the circumstances.
"I was so mad -- I was pissed off, to be honest," Korkmaz admitted on Saturday as the Sixers geared up for another regular-season matchup versus the Hornets. "It's not something like a big injury, just something small, but it puts you out a couple of weeks. That's why I was so pissed off, but this happens, you know? I got through a lot of things, so I will get through this too."
With a new head coach in place, Korkmaz hasn't mastered his team's new system just yet. And now that he's forced to miss a couple of weeks, that sets the veteran guard back even further. Not to mention, as Korkmaz sits, his absence opens up more opportunities for other players. Specifically, the second-year guard, Matisse Thybulle.
Before Korkmaz went down, he didn't necessarily have an ideal season to start the year. Through three games, he shot just 25-percent from the field and 25-percent from three. While it's just a small sample size, Korkmaz didn't go out on the best terms. And if Thybulle continues to add more offensive value to his game after a solid performance against Orlando the other night, Korkmaz might have to play catchup and fight for minutes when he returns in a couple of weeks.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
