Sixers decline to exercise Furkan Korkmaz’s option

The 76ers declined to exercise the third-year team option of Furkan Korkmaz's deal. As a result,  the 6-foot-7, 185-pound swingman will become a free agent on July 1.

Kormaz, 21, has played in only 19 career games, including five this season. He has averaged 1.4 points and 5.6 minutes in two seasons with the team.

The Sixers said earlier in the week that they hadn't decided whether they were going to exercise the $2.03 million third-year team option on his contract. The team is considering trading him. A source said Korkmaz wants to be traded because he is not playing much. He would not confirm nor deny that on Tuesday.

One reason for not picking up Korkmaz's deal is to save an extra $2.03 million in salary-cap room and have an extra roster spot for free agents.

The Sixers will have about $67 million is salaries locked up among eight players after picking up options on Ben Simmons (fourth year), Dario Saric (fourth), and Markelle Fultz (third). The projected salary cap for the 2019-20  season is about $109 million.

The Sixers drafted Korkmaz with the 26th pick in 2016. He remained overseas for one season to play for Anadolu Efes in his homeland of Turkey. He played for the Sixers last season after the team bought out his Turkish contract.

He is behind rookie guard Landry Shamet on the team's depth chart. He also is expected to be behind reserve guard Jerryd Bayless (left knee) once Bayless returns in a couple of weeks.

Korkmaz scored 40 points as the Sixers opened summer league play with a 95-89 loss to the Boston Celtics on July 6.  He made 8 of 14 three-pointers.