Korkmaz gladly joins Sixers, Fultz scores 23 in loss
"Dreams come true," said the 19-year-old Turkish swingman. He signed with the team on Tuesday.
SALT LAKE CITY - At the conclusion of Wednesday's shootaround, Furkan Korkmaz, decked out in his blue No. 16 jersey, chatted with Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, T.J. McConnell, and a staff member at the far end of the Utah women's practice court.
Korkmaz wore a huge smile as others chuckled over whatever was said. Then, with a bounce in his step, the newly signed 76er walked over to the team's president of basketball operations, Bryan Colangelo.
After a brief conversation, the 6-foot-7 swingman made his way to reporters for his first press availability as a Sixer.
"It's a real special day for me," Korkmaz said.
Korkmaz did not shoot well in his debut. One day after signing his contract, he finished with three points while missing all five of his shots in the Sixers' 100-94 loss to host team of the Utah Jazz Summer League. He made 3 of 5 foul shots and finished with two rebounds, three assists, one steal, and a turnover.
Markelle Fultz led the Sixers (0-2) with 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting to go with five assists, five rebounds and six turnovers. Thirteen of his points and all five assists came in the fourth quarter.
The Sixers battled from a 24-point, third-quarter deficit to pull within one point twice late in the game. The second time came with 11.8 seconds left.
"First of all, my teammates did a great job of getting us back into the game," Fultz saidof his fourth-quarter effort. "I just came into the game tried to not let the team down and try to go up from there."
Alex Poythress added 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while former Imhotep Charter standout Brandon Austin had 16.
Against the Jazz (2-0), Korkmaz looked as if he'll need time to adjust to the speed and the pace of the NBA game.
But on this night, results didn't really matter for the 19-year-old Turkish player. He was just happy to be in an NBA setting.
"It was my dream to become an NBA player," he said. "So dreams come true."
Korkmaz had hoped to play with the Sixers shortly after they selected him 26th overall in the 2016 NBA draft. However, he was under contract with the Turkish team Anadola Efes.
He remained in Turkey this past season, but Korkmaz bought out his contract several days ago. Now he's headlining the Sixers' summer-league team alongside Fultz, the first overall pick last month, and last summer's No. 24 pick, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.
The Sixers will face the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, the last day of the Utah league's schedule. Fultz will not play against the Spurs. They then will travel to Las Vegas to compete in the NBA Summer League starting Saturday.
Korkmaz was scheduled to be with Turkey's under-20 team, which will compete in the U-20 European Championships from July 15 to 23 in Greece. But now that he's under contract with the Sixers, he would need their consent to compete. The team decided not to grant that, thinking it was better for his development to be with the club in the summer leagues.
The Sixers, however, will support his participation with the Turkish senior team in Eurobasket 2017 from Aug. 31 to Sept. 17, if he is selected.
Korkmaz said he wanted to play in the U-20 tournament but understands the team's decision.
"Summer league is very important for a team and also for me," he said. ". . . This is how we can get used to an NBA game. So, of course, we cannot compare the real NBA games with the summer league, but I think it's going to help me a lot to get better experience."
Korkmaz has made a good impression on the Sixers organization. Last month he displayed that he's more than just a sharpshooter while working out with the team at its practice facility in Camden. Back then, Korkmaz flew from Turkey to Philadelphia just to meet the coaches and staff members and work out with the players for a few days.
On Wednesday morning, Korkmaz impressed by picking up the team's offensive principles quickly.
"He's fit right in and quick with our offense that Coach [Brett] Brown wants to do this season moving forward," assistant coach John Bryant said.
The first thing that Fultz mentioned about Korkmaz was his shooting. "He's a great shooter," Fultz said. "He really can shoot."
As the Sixers found out last month, Fultz learned that Korkmaz can also get to the rim. And he was impressed with his teammate's personality.
"He's a great kid," Fultz said. "He's cool. He came in real friendly and seemed like a cool guy. I'm looking forward to playing with him and giving him the ball and giving him some assists."
Korkmaz had to be a little jet-lagged after flying 11 hours from Istanbul to Philadelphia before hopping on a five-hour flight to Utah on Tuesday. But his excitement outweighed anything else.
"Of course," he said, "I am excited to play against all NBA players."
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