Sixers Finding Another Building Block In Dario Saric
For as unknowing as this season has been for the Sixers, one constant producer has been Dario Saric. His place in the rebuild has been more cementing than ever.
Dario Saric came into this season with hype that he would prove to be an effective four, to play relief to the front court tandem of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. Saric was set to come off the bench for the Sixers and provide a scoring punch in transition with the second unit. A Ben Simmons injury pushed him into the starting role, where he struggled early on.
After the team traded for Ersan Ilyasova, Saric’s role minimized but his production slowly started to increase. Ilyasova’s presence not only pushed the Sixers’ offense forward, but it allowed Saric to grow slowly off the bench. Not that it took too long, as by the time the trade deadline came around Saric looked like the team’s most important player with Embiid injured.
His play, along with rumored contract disputes, pushed the Sixers to deal the recently acquired Ilyasova at the deadline. The deal put the Croatian rookie in the spotlight, and he has shined. Since the All-Star break, Saric has averaged 18.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game. This propelled him to the forefront of the Rookie of the Year race, and earned him Rookie of the Month for February.
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His excellent stretch now puts him in the conversation with Embiid and Simmons as important pieces to the team’s future success. It’s no longer silly to think that Saric can start in a lineup with the Sixers’ other two prospects to form a unit that can grow to become one of the best in the league. Saric’s defense has been decent enough to throw him in with modern forwards, especially with the presence of Joel Embiid behind him. Ben Simmons is hardly a defensive stud himself, but his length and athleticism should allow him to hold his own against some forwards, or bigger guards.
On offense, Simmons would have two effective passing targets. Both have the ability to hit jump shots from the outside, while also showing consistency around the rim. The future is no longer just “Embiid and Simmons”, Saric has put himself in that conversation. Enough to the point where the Sixers no longer have to worry about finding their true power forward.
Next: Okafor Shows Poor Effort
The rest of the Sixers foundation may seem shaky with injury, but the one man holding things up right now is Dario Saric. It’s ironic considering Saric’s situation was as murky as a player’s could be, he is now the one clear piece to this puzzle. Through this fourth consecutive tumultuous season, not many could have guessed that Saric would shine through.