76ers' Furkan Korkmaz discusses how trade rumors impact play

With the Sixers‘ 2022-2023 team salary just barely over the luxury tax line, there have been rumblings that the team will look to trade a non-rotation player to duck out of tax territory. 

Furkan Korkmaz, one player who has been cited as a candidate to be moved in such a deal, has heard the rumors but is trying to let them affect him, as Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays.

“I just let those guys handle it — my agent, my organization-wise,” he said. “Right now, I don’t think it’s going to make a lot of sense for me to say anything about it, because it’s not in my hands at some point. … For me, the best thing that I can say is I want to be happy, you know? I want to be on the court. And whatever they think is working with the team, that’s fine with me.”

Korkmaz has been a rotation regular in Philadelphia over the last several years, averaging 20.8 minutes per game in 194 appearances during the three seasons prior to this one. In 2022-2023, he appeared in just 23 contests and averaged only 10.9 MPG.

Given his decline in production over the last year and the fact that he’s owed a guaranteed $5.37M next season, Korkmaz wouldn’t be a positive asset on the trade market — especially since potential trade partners would recognize that the Sixers want to duck the tax, reducing Philadelphia’s leverage.