Does Ersan Ilyasova Arrival Push Dario Saric Back To Bench?

Dario Saric hoped to solidify his role with the Philadelphia 76ers following an injury to Ben Simmons.   But after dealing for power forward Ersan Ilyasova, have the Philadelphia 76ers relegated Saric to the bench?

Throughout the past two years, Dario Saric was easily one of the more coveted players to arrive to the Philadelphia 76ers, particularly in light of the 730 plus day wait imposed on the fans.  Even his progress was followed religiously by fans.  Ultimately, he was the hero of the Olympics for the Croatian national team, and fans hoped he might bring that work ethic and heroics to the NBA.

In his preseason outing, he did.

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But then wheels began to fall off the wagon. Or rather, the shots stopped falling for Dario Saric. After a pair of impressive preseason games, Saric’s offensive production fell sharply for the next three games. But it was his final preseason game against the Miami Heat, where he scored 21 points, that seemed to mark his NBA-readiness.

Unfortunately, it did not translate into the regular season. For the first two games, he averaged 5.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and a 19 percent shooting accuracy from the floor. The debut was disappointing enough to coax the team into surrender promising young Jerami Grant to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Ersan Ilyasova and a 2020 protected first round pick.