Furkan Korkmaz Scouting Report: August 2015

Furkan Korkmaz only recently wrapped up a tremendously busy summer. The 6-7 forward competed in both the FIBA U19 International Tournament and the FIBA U18 European Tournament over the last three months. In the U19s, he was surrounded by some of Turkey’s older players — some of which are potential NBA prospects in their own right — and still managed to lead his team in scoring in only 24 minutes a game. As the top dog on the U18 roster, defenses keyed in on him more, and both his efficiency and per minute scoring took a hit.

Korkmaz is one of the top talents in Europe, and a likely late lottery or mid-first round pick whenever he declares for the NBA Draft, which could be as soon as this year. Playing for Anadolu Efes, he featured more as a role player, so scouting what could be his last heavy usage performance before he comes to the NBA is crucial for understanding his long-term potential.

Assisted offense

As a wing player, the majority of shots created for Korkmaz are from the perimeter. Korkmaz’s shooting is known as one of his biggest strengths, but his summer shooting performance was somewhat up and down. While he shot an impressive 45.2 percent in the U19s, he struggled mightily during the U18 Tournament by converting on 22.2 percent of his 3-pointers. Korkmaz didn’t have many open looks set up for him and was forced to create more shots off the dribble, often with the shot clock winding down.

Korkmaz’s form is slightly unconventional. He slings the ball behind his head before lofting up his high-arcing shot, much like Sam Dekker. The slingshot form might hurt Korkmaz when it comes to creating a consistent foundation, but he still manages to release the ball off his fingertips and follow through normally, so it isn’t a big concern for the future.

In addition to his spot up shooting, Korkmaz contributes off the ball with surprisingly heady cutting for a shooter. Most outside shooters never develop the ability to cut well because they’re content to hover on the perimeter, but Korkmaz is an expert at backdoors and cutting to the hoop when his man is ball watching.

Creating offense

Korkmaz’s diverse ability to create for himself and his teammates is his central appeal as a prospect. Turkey let him run a lot of high pick and rolls, allowing him to show off his creation ability.

What makes Korkmaz so hard to contain is his combination of a great first step with the ability to pull-up confidently from both 3-point and mid-range spots. Defenders are forced to play up on him and go over screens, but Korkmaz has the speed to blow by them and get into the lane. He does a particularly good job of waiting for his man to start hedging over the screen and then using his speed to reject it and gain an advantage.

Like many young players, he struggles coming off both on-ball and off-ball screens tightly, which sometimes allows his defender to stay in front of him.

Once in the lane, Korkmaz has a solid floater game, as well as the vertical athleticism and length to convert acrobatic finishes above and around the rim. The problem is his skinny frame prevents him from taking contact well, and while he does a good job drawing fouls, he too often tries to manoeuvre around defenders and force difficult shots.

If he’s not creating his own shot, Korkmaz is an adept passer for a wing player. His vision isn’t limited to one type of playmaking, either. He can use his size to make skip passes to shooters or his long arms to find gaps in the defense for drop offs to bigs and cutters. Unfortunately, while his vision is truly guard-like, his passing accuracy is unrefined at this point — he often sails passes just out of his teammates’ reach.

The one true weakness in Korkmaz’s creating portfolio, limiting him in both pick and roll and isolation, is a relatively high and loose handle. He possesses a quick crossover for one-time direction changes, but he doesn’t have the type of on-a-string ball handling that would let him break defenders down. Instead, he has to rely more on one or two quick moves, which can be effective but prevent him from profiling as a primary creator.

Despite not having the handle of a team’s 1A creator, Korkmaz has everything necessary to be a great secondary option for a team’s offense. Attacking closeouts in particular, Korkmaz excels as his combination of shooting, speed and passing vision make him perfect for breaking down the defense. He also has one of the best pump fakes in recent memory, which he uses frequently to get defenders off balance and attack the hoop or sidestep into a 3-pointer.

On-ball defense

His first step and speed in straight lines is fantastic, but Korkmaz’s lateral movement and ability to react to opposing defenders is a definite weakness. Opponents frequently force him to play on his heels, and he is particularly poor at cutting players off on closeouts. His poor balance and quickness may be the result of his defensive stance — he plays relatively upright and would benefit from working on his hip flexibility to get into a deeper stance.

With his speed and length, Korkmaz does a good job recovering when he gets beat, but his skinny frame prevents him from cutting off players as well as he should when he does manage to get in front of them. That lack of strength also hurts him navigating screens, particularly off-ball ones, though he shows surprisingly good quickness when fighting over the on-ball variety. The bouts of quickness he sometimes shows suggest that Korkmaz could be an effective on-ball stopper in time if he improves his balance and stance.

Off-ball defense

Korkmaz is a maddeningly inconsistent off-ball defender, but still considerably more appealing off the ball than on the ball. His effort level isn’t always there, and he often plays disengaged and lazy when he isn’t directly involved in the play.

However, when he sees a chance to make a play on the defensive end, Korkmaz is cat-like, and his combination of speed and length makes him a real playmaker in the passing lanes. At times, Turkey deployed him at the top of a 1-2-2 press this summer, and he did a fantastic job making life hard on the other team and disrupting plays.

Ultimately, Korkmaz is one of the more important internationals to track over the upcoming year, and his package of high skill level with above average athleticism at the wing position should make him a hot commodity whenever he decides to enter the draft.