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Sixers' Furkan Korkmaz to play in U-20 European Championship

The tournament runs Saturday through July 23 in Greece.

Philadelphia 76ers Furkan Korkmaz shoots around Boston Celtics Semi Ojeleye during the first half of an NBA summer league basketball game, Tuesday, July 11, 2017, in Las Vegas.
Philadelphia 76ers Furkan Korkmaz shoots around Boston Celtics Semi Ojeleye during the first half of an NBA summer league basketball game, Tuesday, July 11, 2017, in Las Vegas.Read moreAP Photo/John Locher
    by Keith Pompey | Columnist
    Published 

LAS VEGAS – Furkan Korkmaz will play for Turkey in the U-20 European Championship, after all.

The 76ers rookie will board an 11-hour flight to Germany on Saturday. From there, he'll take a four-hour flight to Greece to join his Turkish teammates. The tournament, which will begin Saturday, runs through July 23.

After that, Korkmaz will play for the Turkish senior team in Eurobasket 2017 from Aug. 31 to Sept. 17, if he's selected.

While the Sixers always supported his playing in Eurobasket, the team originally didn't give its content for his participation in the U-20 tourney once he signed his NBA contract on July 4. The Sixers thought it was better for his development to be with the team in the Utah Jazz Summer League and here at the NBA Summer League.

The thinking changed now that the Sixers' final summer league contest will be at 8:30 p.m. Friday against the Chicago Bulls at the Thomas & Mack Center. The summer league will conclude Monday with the championship game.

The 6-foot-7 swingman has averaged a team-leading 12.8 points in the NBA league. He's shooting 46.5 percent from the field and just 29.2 percent on three-pointers.

He'll be the third Sixer to participate in Eurobasket if he makes the Turkish senior team. Dario Saric will play for his native Croatia, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot will play for his native France.