On Monday night, a source confirmed to the Voice of Philadelphia that Fulkan Korkmaz will return to the 76ers for three years at a price of $15 million. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN was the first to report the news

For Korkmaz, this is a long and strange road. After the 76ers refused to accept his fourth-year option, Korkmaz was selected by the team in 2016 and looks to be out of town in 2019. There are rumors that he will return to Europe, but a deal later in the offseason in 2019 brought him back to Philadelphia in a team-friendly deal, which gave him another chance to impress.

Korkmaz finally made a breakthrough, ushered in an excellent shooting season in the 2019-20 season, and then achieved an effective but slightly down year in the 2020-21 season. Under the guidance of Dan Burke last season, the Turkish winger took a step forward as a defender. Although this is far from his strength, it makes him have a better chance to make it difficult in the playoffs. Fight for playing time at the time. Perhaps most importantly, Korkmaz has become a semi-reliable starter for Philadelphia. He is an extra shooter who can help open the field when one of their stars is out due to injury or illness.

Some people questioned whether he would return to the 76ers again-in the past few hours, there have been rumors that Cleveland may sign a larger contract-but the 76ers eventually caught him. Money is not necessarily that important here, because the 76ers have all the bird rights of Korkmaz and reserved their mid-level exceptions for other candidates.

At this price, Korkmaz makes a lot of sense as an in-depth film, and the real question will be how big his role will be in the future. If Korkmaz leaves, the 76ers will free up more playing time for players like Isaiah Joe and rookie Jaden Springer. Each of them brings something different, but they are all on the bench. Many of the same defensive opportunities on the bench fight. Doc Rivers has proven to be a fan of Korkmaz during his short tenure. At the very least, increased competition should allow everyone to perform at their best.

Please stay tuned for more updates on free agents.

This story is developing…

---

Follow Kyle on Twitter: @Kyle newback

Like us on Facebook: Voice of Philadelphia Sports

Subscribe to Kyle’s 76ers podcast “The New Slant” Apple, Google, and Spotify