The Philadelphia 76ers are very excited about the starting frontcourt they will be able to employ this season with Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. Both of those players were highly thought of coming out of college and have huge expectations in the NBA but they will need backups in order for the team to be successful. One of the backup big men is Furkan Aldemir who has reportedly been the 76ers most improved player since the end of last season, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News.
Aldemir is a 24 year old 6 foot-9 forward who played in 41 games for the 76ers last season but averaged just 13.2 minutes per game. Aldemir may be earning himself more minutes though as his progression has been impressive including his performance in the summer league where he averaged 5.3 points and 13.3 rebounds in three games.
The Turkey native is known as an excellent rebounder who struggles on the offensive side of the ball. Aldemir's offensive game has been called invisible and that is where the improvement needs to come from.
Last season Aldemir averaged 11.7 rebounds per 36 minutes which is an elite number but he only averaged 6.2 points per 36 minutes. Aldemir did make 51 percent of his field goals a year ago but he only attempted 78 of them and is not someone that is going to create his own shot. Aldemir has reportedly worked on extending his range this offseason and will likely increase his field goal attempts from three point range this season after attempting (and missing) five threes a season ago.
Aldemir is expected to be one of the first big men off the bench for the 76ers this season and if he is as improved as is being reported he could make a huge impact. At the very least Aldemir will make an impact with his outstanding rebounding but if he can add some semblance of an offensive game he has the potential to be a very good bench player. Aldemir will likely be Noel's primary backup and should Noel get injured he will be there to fill in as a starter.
