Sixers officially acquire Aldemir, White

The enigmatic Royce White

By John McMullen
jmcmullen@phanaticmag.com

PHILADELPHIA – With little to look forward to this season, the few Sixers fans who are left are probably holding out hope that the anxiety-ridden but extremely talented Royce White can figure out how to deal with his substantial problems and contribute to the moribund 76ers.

Sam Hinkie is thinking otherwise, however and trumpeted 21-year-old Turkish center/forward Furkan Aldemir as the lead piece in the deal that brought White and additional consideration from the Houston Rockets in exchange for future draft considerations.

Aldemir (6-foot-10, 230) was the 53rd overall pick by the L.A. Clippers in the 2012 NBA Draft and his rights were traded to Houston that night as part of a four-team deal that also involved Dallas and Utah.

The Turkish star has been playing professionally since 2007-08, most recently for Galatasaray Medical Park, the current champions of the Turkish Basketball League. In 2012-13, Aldemir averaged 5.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting 69 percent from the field in 40 Turkish Basketball League games. While only averaging 17 minutes per game, Aldemir managed to secure double figure rebounding totals 11 times this season. Aldemir has also competed for the Turkish Junior National Team in the 2010 and 2011 European U-20 Championship, earning All-Tournament honors in 2011.


While a legitimate NBA prospect most believe Aldemir will need at least another year overseas before he is ready to contribute at the NBA level.

The 6-foot-8, 260-pound White on the other hand is very skilled, an almost point/power forward-type who was originally the 16th overall pick by Houston in the 2012 NBA Draft.

The 22-year-old struggles with anxiety issues and is afraid to fly, something that will obviously derail his potential NBA career if he can not overcome it.

White butted heads with the Rockets over his issues and never played a game for Houston in his rookie season. He did see action in 16 games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League.  While with the Vipers, White averaged 11.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.8 blocks in 25.6 minutes per game.