December 03, 2015
Until his flight from Istanbul or Croatia touches down at Philadelphia International, the prospect of Dario Saric joining the Sixers for the 2016-17 NBA season should be met with some skepticism.
The potential of Saric waiting until 2017-18, thus not being bound by the NBA rookie scale while the cap continues to jump, gives him serious financial incentive to stick it out at Anadolu Efes for the entirety of his three-year contract.
Despite all of this, it can’t be ignored that Saric has consistently maintained he will make the jump to the NBA this summer. Thanks to the fine translation work of the good folks at r/Sixers, we now know Saric said point blank that money ain’t nothing but a thing:
"It depends only on me, and I want to go next Summer, I don't know what money could make me stay (in Turkey)."
According to a Croatian basketball scout, Saric’s father is now reportedly saying the same things:
Father of Dario Šarić confirmed that his son will play next year for @Sixers .
— Vedran Modrić (@vedranmo) December 2, 2015
In the interview, Saric also mentioned that he missed his role at his former Croatian club, KK Cibona. This makes it sound like he’s unhappy with his role at Efes. Saric currently only plays 21 minutes a game, despite putting up solid per-minute numbers and shooting the ball well. The 21-year-old is shooting over 50 percent from the field, just a tick under 40 percent from three-point range, and over 80 percent from the line.
Again, there is reason to still be skeptical. While it’s not a done deal until he actually comes over, Saric and the Sixers in 2016-17 seem to have a much better chance than Lloyd Christmas and Mary Swanson ending up together.
9:00 p.m. update: Saric also seems to be expressing concern about his safety in Istanbul, which also should be noted and could obviously play a major role in any decision.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
