Jaden Springer, Furkan Korkmaz Face Make-Or-Break Seasons

Two players fighting for minutes.

Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.

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I don’t know if you heard, but the Sixers’ roster is in flux right now! At this point, it’s anyone’s guess who will actually be on the team by the time training camp and the regular season begin. But there are at two players likely to stick here who are awaiting pivotal seasons in their careers:

Jaden Springer

Springer, drafted by the Sixers at 18 years old, was accepted as a behind the scenes project while the team sought championship contention. 

“Of course I want to be out there playing,” Springer told The Ricky in February. “But I guess that's not in the plans for the team yet.”

After two seasons and very few NBA minutes, Springer’s time is coming. He figures to work into the team’s guard rotation at some point in 2023-24, and the team hopes he can rise to the occasion and flourish. 

When Springer, 20, is given a chance by new Sixers Head Coach Nick Nurse -- who is known to have an affinity for long, athletic, defensive-oriented players like the Tennessee product -- he must capitalize. The truth is that going three full seasons in the NBA without any consistent production to show for it is an ominous development for a young player with hopes of sticking around.

The Sixers’ signing of Patrick Beverley to be a defensive-oriented guard off the bench doesn’t help Springer’s case to find minutes early in the season. But for the first time in Springer’s career, it seems definitive that at some point during the 82-game season his name will be called.

If the James Harden saga continues into the regular season with no resolution, Springer will likely enter the season as the team’s fourth guard behind Tyrese Maxey, De’Anthony Melton and Beverley. While he may not play 20 minutes every night, that is a situation in which Springer will be able to pick up valuable in-game reps that he just has not gotten to experience so far.

Springer has absolutely dominated the G-League in much of his time playing at that level. But if recent Sixers history tells us anything, it’s that young players with excellent athletic tools need to be given a chance to work on their game within the context of NBA competition:

“I feel like the more time I get on the court, the better I build chemistry with my teammates, the more comfortable I get,” Paul Reed told The Ricky in March. 

“Now… it’s easier to go out there and play.”

Furkan Korkmaz

Korkmaz’s career arc has been odd, to say the least. He came over after being stashed overseas for one year, and spent two years at the end of the bench. His third year team option was declined, a rarity that typically indicates the player is on their way out of the league.

In the summer of 2019, the Sixers tried to sign Kyle Korver. He chose the Milwaukee Bucks over a return to Philadelphia. With no enticing options left available, they brought Korkmaz back on a two-year deal with only one guaranteed year. 

Korkmaz, who had become an afterthought, suddenly emerged in 2019-20 as the team’s best offensive player off the bench. After another year of solid production and a three-year, $15 million contract, his shooting -- known as his signature skill -- went into the tank. His last two seasons have been as rough as it gets, culminating in a trade request that went unaccommodated.

So here we are now: Korkmaz is in the final year of his deal, and the harsh reality is that if he doesn’t show a lot more than he has since 2021, it could easily be his last NBA contract. He will once again be at the center of trade rumors whether he plays well or not -- better yet, whether he plays at all or not -- because his expiring salary could help the team facilitate a trade.

However, there is a path to minutes for Korkmaz -- like Springer, he would benefit from the Harden situation dragging along. As things stand now, he is the team’s fourth traditional wing after Tobias Harris, PJ Tucker and Danuel House Jr. That presents an opportunity for occasional playing time. Even if the Sixers wanted to experiment going small with Springer or Beverley on the wing at some point or give minutes to a two-way player like Terquavion Smith, Korkmaz is set up to receive one final chance in Philadelphia.

Whether it’s to open the season here or later in the year on another team, Korkmaz doesn’t need to set the world on fire. But he does need to prove he is an NBA-caliber player. For two years, he wasn’t one. He was a very good one for the next two. For the two after that… back to square one.