Furkan Aldemir is putting the finishing touches on a four-year deal with Darussafaka Dogus of Turkey, reports international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). The Sixers were reportedly likely to re-sign him if they were granted a 16th roster spot via hardship, but it looks like Aldemir will be returning to his home country instead of Philadelphia. It’s unclear if the would-be contract will have any escape clauses that would allow him to return to the NBA anytime soon.
Darussafaka Dogus had been in pursuit of the former 53rd overall pick, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia, and Pick heard that the team was the front-runner to sign Aldemir, who wants to return to his homeland. Aldemir, 24, played for Turkey’s Galatasaray in between the time the Clippers drafted him in 2012 and last December, when the Sixers signed him after trading for his draft rights. Philadelphia waived him last month in spite of his guaranteed salary of nearly $2.837MM for this season. The Sixers could defray a small portion of that guaranteed salary via set off rights if the Turkish deal gives him more than the NBA one-year veteran’s minimum salary of $845,059 for this season.
Aldemir averaged 2.3 points and an efficient 4.3 rebounds in 13.2 minutes per game over 41 appearances with the Sixers last season. The Sixers released him knowing that they had several players out with injury but would have to wait until they played at least three games to qualify to petition the league for an extra roster spot they could use to re-sign Aldemir or bring in someone else.