The Sixer Sense
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Ben Simmons May Complicate Dario Saric’s 2016 Debut

By Bret Stuter

Mar 12, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) dribbles the ball in the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies during the SEC conference tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 12, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) dribbles the ball in the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies during the SEC conference tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 11, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) in the first half against the Tennessee Volunteers during the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 11, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) in the first half against the Tennessee Volunteers during the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

With similar skill sets to offer the NBA, the Sixers may find committing to Ben Simmons may delay Dario Saric‘s NBA debut in 2016

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

We have talked about the possibilities of Dario Saric and Ben Simmons on a basketball court wearing Philadelphia 76ers jerseys, and it was a nice scenario.

For the longest time, I have found myself in the Ben Simmons camp.  Since the beginning of the 2015-2016 NBA season, THE prospect was Ben Simmons, the universally anointed prospect with that “something special”.   You see, when you have a chance at somebody special, you take it. When considering the NBA draft, and a chance to marry the potential greatness of Joel Embiid with the potential greatness of Ben Simmons, it’s a very exciting future of what may be.

But as our feet touch the ground, as they so quickly do in Philadelphia, we realize that fairy-tales and what-ifs don’t get us any closer to a championship.  In the blue collar realm where most of us dwell, we don’t kid ourselves with stars in our eyes or on our helmets to give us false reassurances.   For sports media to find the fans of the Philadelphia 76ers to be receptive, it must pass the sniff test.

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And so, we are sniffing around the context of the 2016 NBA Draft, the draft that is ultimately owned by the Philadelphia 76ers by sitting at number one, and trying to decide if we like the results of a 76er’s Jersey on either Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram.  Then we get to imagine a team with debuts of Joel Embiid and Dario Saric as the new prospect’s teammates.  But there is one complication.   Dario Saric’s rights are owned by the Philadelphia 76ers, but he is not under contract with the team.

And there it is.  That’s what we were sniffing.

Make no bones about it, Dario Saric WANTS to be a Philadelphia 76er.  He is simply obligated by contractual legality to play in Europe.  When the contract to play for Philadelphia is set before him, he will sign, as long as we can confirm which position he will play and whether he has the chance to start.

But where do the Sixers fit Simmons and Saric on the same lineup?

Next: Similar Skills