Korkmaz signs deal with Sixers

Furkan Korkmaz was in town three weeks ago to work out of the Sixers. During that visit Korkmaz the sharp-shooting swingman from Turkey made his intentions very clear.

“I want to be an NBA player,” Korkmaz said. “It’s been my dream since I was a kid.”

Tuesday, Korkmaz got his wish when he signed a contract with the Sixers.

The sigining of Korkmaz means that the Sixers have all three of their first-round picks from 2016 under contract. He was taken with the 26th pick in the first round. The Sixers also selected Ben Simmons (No. 1 overall) and

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (No. 24) in that draft.

“We are happy to have Furkan Korkmaz join us in Philadelphia this year where we feel he will be best positioned to develop physically and acclimate to the NBA game,” Sixers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo said in a statement. “Furkan

is another talented young player that we are excited to have in our program.”

It did not take Korkmaz long to endear himself to center Joel Embiid. Korkmaz sent out a “Trust the Process” tweet shortly after signing his contract.

The addition of Korkmaz is the latest move in what has been a busy offseason for the Sixers. The team is expected to sign guard J.J. Reddick and forward Amir Johson when the “July Moratorium”

for free agents ends Saturday.

The 6-7 guard-forward signed the deal in Salt Lake City, where the Sixers are playing in the Utah Jazz Summer League. It is not known if he will play for the team in Utah or the Las Vegas Summer League, which begins next week.

The holdup there is that Korkmaz is on Turkey’s roster for the FIBA U20 European Championships, which begin July 15.

That wasn’t the only matter

that had to be worked out. To sign with the Sixers, Korkmaz had to get out of his contract with Anadolu Efes in the Turkish Basketball Super League. The buyout, according to published reports, was $2 million. Under NBA rules, the Sixers could only pay $675,000 of that total so Korkmaz or his representatives were on the hook for the rest to make the dream become reality.

Korkmaz spent the 201617 season with Banvit (Turkey)

on loan from Anadolu Efes. Korkmaz helped Banvit win its first Turkish Cup in February. He averaged 11 points and four rebounds, while shooting 49 percent overall and 40 percent from 3-point range in 21 games.

Korkmaz was named the “Best Young Player” in the Basketball Champions league after leading Banvit to its first BCL final. He averaged 11 points, five rebounds and shot 50 percent from beyond the arc in eight BCL games.

The native of Istanbul was a teammate of Sixers forward Dario Saric with Anadolu Efes during the 2015-16 season. He is a three-time Turkish Basketball Super League all-star and a two-time Turkish Cup champion. Korkmaz also was on the Turkish National team that won the gold medal in the 2014 FIBA Europe Under 18 championship in 2014 and the silver medal in the same tournament in 2015.