11:33am: Aldemir confirmed that he is leaving Galatasaray and has decided to come stateside in a message on his Facebook page, as passed along by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (translation via Ahmet Melik Subaşi).
“Playing in the NBA is one of my greatest dreams, just like all the basketball players,” Aldemir wrote in part. “I had some positive conditions to realize this dream in last couple of days. We have considered those conditions with my family and my agent, and we have decided that an experience in USA will be much [more] efficient for my personal career and development.
9:54am: Sixers draft-and-stash prospect Furkan Aldemir has ended his contract with Galatasaray of Turkey and is headed to the Sixers, agent Misko Raznatovic tells Cem Pelister of CNNTurk.com (translation via Can Pelister of Trendbasket, on Twitter). It’s not entirely clear whether there’s a deal in place with Philadelphia, since details are often lost in translation. Aldemir, a 6’9″ power forward, was the 53rd overall pick in 2012, and the Sixers acquired his NBA rights during the summer of 2013 as part of the Royce White trade with the Rockets.
Aldemir signed a new three-year, $5.3MM deal with Galatasaray this past offseason, though it sounds like the club is behind on its payments to him, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando tweets. The 23-year-old was averaging 8.1 points and 9.1 rebounds in 22.7 minutes per game across 11 appearances so far this season, demonstrating his skill on the boards. Still, he saw fewer than seven minutes a game in six appearances for the Turkish national team in the FIBA World Cup this summer.
The Sixers would have to cut a player to accommodate a deal with Aldemir, since they have 15 players already, as our roster counts show. Still, Philadelphia has plenty of flexibility, since only eight of those players have fully guaranteed salary.
This is Furkan awesome!