Philadelphia 76ers coach Brent Brown impressed by Dario Saric

By Phil Watson | Sep 7, 2014

Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Dario Saric (Croatia) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twelve overall pick to the Orlando Magic in the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

The Philadelphia 76ers sent two first-round picks to the Orlando Magic on draft night to acquire the rights to Croatian forward Dario Saric, who won’t be playing in Philadelphia this season as the 76ers continue their quest to compete for the 2078 NBA title.

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A contingent of 76ers including coach Brent Brown and players Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel and not-yet-a-player Joel Embiid went to Spain to see Saric play for the Croatian national team in the FIBA World Cup and Brown came away impressed.

"“I think he can play now,” Brown told EuroHoops.net. “I think that in Philadelphia we are about development and about opportunity. He would look around and see a lot of fellow young players that just want a chance to play. Our whole emphasis in Philadelphia is about development and help our players. We are trying to be as good as we can be in sport science and growing up players physically and from a skill perspective. He is another one of our young lottery picks that we hope to grow the program with.”"

Saric, who signed a three-year deal with Turkish power Anadolu Efes before the NBA Draft in June, averaged 19.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game for Cibona in the Adriatic League.

The 20-year-old averaged 11.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals for Croatia, which was eliminated from the World Cup in the round of 16 on Saturday.

It was appropriate that Embiid was there to see Saric—two big men who won’t play for the 76ers in 2014-15 got an opportunity to compare notes.

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