The Sixers would probably sign Furkan Aldemir if the league permits them to carry a 16th player via the hardship provision, a source told Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News, confirming recent speculation (Twitter link). Joel Embiid, Carl Landry, Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten are all expected to be out for at least next two weeks, and all missed the first three games of the regular season, so Philadelphia, which has 15 players already, meets the criteria necessary to petition the league for an extra player. Aldemir, whom the Sixers waived before opening night, is meanwhile drawing interest from overseas, ostensibly giving Philadelphia competition.
Darussafaka Dogus of Aldemir’s native Turkey is interested in the 24-year-old big man, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia, and Aldemir is pushing to return to his home country, where Darussafaka is the favorite to land him, a source tells international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Aldemir played for Galatasaray before the Sixers signed him last December. Philadelphia guaranteed Aldemir’s salaries for both 2014/15 and 2015/16, and the Sixers ate nearly $2.837MM when they released him last month. The Sixers could set off a small portion of that when he signs his next contract, though the Sixers are still more than $4MM beneath the NBA’s minimum team salary of $63MM.
The hardship provision would allow the Sixers a 10-day window to stay at 16 players, and they could apply again once it’s over if their injured players are still expected to remain sidelined. The Sixers could keep Aldemir, or whomever they might add as a 16th player, and waive another player once they no longer have access to the provision, if they choose.