Dario Saric Paired With Ben Simmons: The Perfect Set Up

Saric Helps Sixers Pass The Competition

When the Philadelphia 76ers traded their just drafted Elfrid Payton to the Orlando Magic for the rights to Dario Saric in 2014, they obtained the 2017 first round pick as well as the Magic’s 2015 second round pick. A player today, for potential prosepcts tomorrow. But with the passing of time, the value of Dario Saric has diminished to the Sixers fan base. Out of sight, out of mind, and with so many holes to fill on this team, the Philadelphia 76ers appear to be in need of far more than the services of a lone forward from the Anadolu Efes team.

We have updated the status of Saric earlier this season, where we named his 2016 arrival as a key element to the rebuild.  As the team becomes ever closer to selecting Ben Simmons in the NBA draft, his arrival becomes even more vital.

This is the extract from that article that spells out his essential skills to the Sixers next season:

"He can work a fast break. He can set up at the corner and sink a trey. He can defend the basket and turn and sink a fade-away jumper. If the team has a good mid range shooter (and Embiid appears to be very good), Saric can threaten both deep and mid range. His long range shot is developing nicely overseas. That has made a tremendous difference for him in becoming a more complete offensive player. Saric was in a groove in December, hitting 52.3 percent of his treys during that run, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can continue to hit at that clip. Since December 2015, he’s been actually hitting on 40% of his treys."

From the moment he arrives, Dario Saric will impact the Sixers ability to move the ball, and move it quickly. He moves the ball quickly with ease, demonstrating superior vision and court awareness. He pushes the ball, and he can pass the ball to anywhere on the court, at times with the accuracy of a laser guided sight.

But he is just one, and the Sixers have struggled this year with untimely turnovers.  In fact, the Sixers are dead last in the NBA with turnovers, averaging 16.5 turnovers per game. That number is .5 greater than the next teams in the rankings, and 2.5 higher than the league mean of 14.0.   Placing one player on the team who can excel at passing does not fix the problem, as Saric will simply not have anyone to pass the ball to with confidence.

Next: Simmons Saric Solution