Section 215
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Sixers News: Dario Saric says he Will Come ‘Next Summer’

By Tim Kelly

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Some potentially exciting Sixers news. 

Dario Saric‘s rights were acquired by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2014 NBA Draft, the same draft that the team took a risk on the extremely talented, yet injured Joel Embiid. At the time of the draft, it didn’t feel like Sam Hinkie’s second draft would break him if it didn’t pan out, but it sure seemed like it had a great chance of making him if the team’s two first-rounders lived up to their potential.

Nearly 16 months later, neither has played in an NBA game for the Sixers. Embiid, as has been well documented, will miss a second straight season after getting a bone graft on his injured foot. His long-term future, especially after an article from the Cauldron called his work ethic into question, seems to be questionable at best.

That same article, said this of Saric’s future with the team:

"Attempts to negotiate a buyout of Saric’s European deal this past summer didn’t come off, and the Sixers may not see Saric for quite some time yet.According to a source, Saric’s father, who acts as a de facto representative for his son, doesn’t want the Sixers close to Saric. When Hinkie traveled to Turkey to meet with Saric in the summer of 2014, he was given very little face time with him, at the father’s direction. If Saric waits until the 2017–18 season to come to the NBA, he’ll be able to sign a contract that is not subject to the rookie wage scale (in the same way Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic did). As much as Hinkie is playing the long game, having to wait three full seasons to get a first-round draft pick signed and on the floor sets back the program."

Probably for more than just the biased tone, that article from the Cauldron wasn’t given much credit when that article was published. It appears there may have been a strong reasoning why.

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It’s unclear exactly how Saric’s father feels — or if how he feels means much — but Saric himself seems to have had plenty of contact with the Sixers and sounds excited to join the team.

In an interview with Večernji List, Saric sounds more disenchanted with his current team, Anadolu Efes S.K., and excited to join the team that owns his NBA rights.

"For this there can not say I’m unhappy, but that’s not what I expected. Maybe I was going directly to the NBA there were merry, and maybe I could not, so I had to go back to Europe. Here I am where I am and I’m not complaining. It could have been better, but it could have been worse.The Sixers are impatient and would have liked to bring Dario over already this season.I am in constant contact with the Sixers, they wanted me as soon as possible, but I have a contract with Efes. Terminate it is not the same as going to the market and buy a kilogram of cucumbers. But in the summer I will still go because I have a way out in the contract."

First thing: Saric will fit in with the American media if he continues to try to make sports analogies that involve cucumbers. Secondly, this page is translated from Bosnian, and then some parts of it are edited by myself to make it readable. For the most part, this is the Bosnian to English translation, but no two languages share the exact same words, so even when translated some things don’t make sense.

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Obviously Saric has an agent, a contract that does run through next year and just because he says this doesn’t mean it will come to fruition, but it sounds as though next year could be a special year of rookie debuts. The Sixers could have up to four first-round picks in the 2016 draft, Embiid could play and Saric could be here. Add that onto Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor, among others, and the Sixers’ future seems a lot more exciting than some are trying to make it out as.

 H/T r/Sixers via Spike Eskin