NBA rumors: Dario Saric to play for 76ers in 2016-17
By John Buhler
According to a Croatian newspaper, the Philadelphia 76ers No. 12 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Dario Saric, intends to play for the 76ers in 2016-17.
On Wednesday, Croatian newspaper Slobdona Dalmacija announced that Croation basketball star Dario Saric will leave his Turkish club team, Anadolu Efes, and play for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2016-17 NBA season.
Saric became the 76ers’ No. 12 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft after the organization orchestrated a trade with the Orlando Magic to acquire Saric’s rights. While Saric could theoretically stay with Anadolu Efes for one more year to avoid having to get paid on the NBA rookie scale in 2016-17, his plan was to come stateside as soon as possible.
In Saric’s contract with Anadolu Efes, he has the ability to opt out of his final season, which would have been 2016-17. He’s planning on playing in all of the Olympic qualifying tournaments for Croatia and then will come to Philadelphia to begin his career in the NBA.
Saric’s buyout with Anadolu Efes would be around $800,000 and the 76ers are allowed to pay $650,000 of that. Phillymag.com’s Derek Bodner writes that Saric could be the third international player to sign with 76ers this offseason, joining 2016 NBA Draft picks of Timothu Luwawu and Furkan Korkmaz.
At 6-foot-10, Saric has improved his jump-shooting game while playing professionally in Turkey the last two years. He shot 41 percent from beyond the arc for Anadolu Efes in 2015-16. His smooth stroke from three will go a long way in helping the 76ers’ putrid offensive game join the rest of the league.
Philadelphia has been arguably the worst offensive team in the last two NBA seasons, sitting in dead last in terms of offensive rating. Point guard issues remain, but it seems the 76ers may end up winning more than just 10 games in 2016-17.
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