Colangelo Leaves Turkey Without Dario Saric

Will he or won’t he? Despite Bryan Colangelo and Brett Brown’s visit to Dario Saric, the answer is a definite: Maybe

The moment the Philadelphia 76ers traded Elfrid Payton to the Orlando Magic for Dario Saric, the player they had wanted all along, plus the return of the first round pick included in the Andrew Bynum trade. All was well at the time. Saric, it was believed, would play out two of his three year commitment overseas and then happily come back to the USA to play for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2016-2017 season.

But….complications developed as they so often do.

Complications sprang not just from one area, but from multiple areas.  Complications surrounding the finances, the team’s commitment to Saric, the players involved, and even Saric’s own enthusiastic “I want to play in the NBA” has tempered over time. Even Dario Saric’s father committed to the belief that his son would come to play in the NBA this year.

And so it is where we find ourselves now, at the crossroads of will he or won’t he come to the Philadelphia 76ers.  And what does either path lead us to eventually?

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Well, we’ve covered that ground for you.   In one article, we played up the compatibility of Dario Saric with anticipated first selection of the 2016 NBA draft, Ben Simmons.  Their abilities to distribute the ball and to make plays would certainly be a huge upgrade to the current lineup.

But we are not transcendentalists here at The Sixer Sense.  We recognize that the challenges of signing Dario Saric might prevent his arrival, and so we already have detailed out what a plan B for the team might become.

But we’ve done more for you.  An excellent article from Josh Wilson detailed why the jump from the Turkish League may be more than a simple pledge to do so and a handshake deal.  In his article, Wilson detailed the financial aspects, the desire to await the Sixers improvement, and the desire to play for the Croatian National team in  this year’s summer Olympics.

But even that may not be all there is to the hesitation now.  The very fact that the Philadelphia 76ers are weighing out selecting either Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram may impact Dario Saric’s decision.  You see, if the Sixers go with Ben Simmons, he will be presumed to be the starter in whatever role he is assigned by the Philadelphia 76ers.  Until now, much of the rhetoric has him slotted at the four, which is Dario Saric’s natural position.

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Until this draft, Saric presumed he would be starting, or at least competing to start, on the Philadelphia 76ers lineup.  But if the Sixers are selecting Simmons at one, Sarics may be looking at a career off the bench or in a less familiar role in the NBA.  That complicates the matter at hand.

Colangelo arrived in Italy on June 9th from Istanbul Turkey without a commitment nor a signature from Dario Saric to join the Philadelphia 76ers this year.  Per Scott Howard Cooper of NBA.com, Colangelo has set a deadline for Dario Saric to commit to the Philadelphia 76ers by July 17, 2016.

"“He really showed his full repertoire, everything from some post moves and some good interior passing to an improved shot,” Colangelo said of watching Saric on Tuesday. “The perimeter shot looks like it’s really coming. He’s got a full range of ball skills and passing skills. I think his game will definitely translate to the NBA in a positive way. The timing of him coming to the NBA is still in question. I believe there’s a desire on both sides to make it happen sooner rather than later, but at the same time, the contract scenario, economics, etc., etc. all plays a part in that decision making. We’ll know soon enough whether it’s going to happen for this particular season. That’s our goal and our desire. I think in the next few weeks we’ll have more clarity.” – Bryan Colangelo interviewed by Scott Howard Cooper of NBA.com"

While the pressure is on the younger Colangelo to get the Philadelphia 76ers as equipped as possible for success in the 2016-2017 season, a delay of Dario Saric would not be the end of the universe for the Philadelphia 76ers.  As we noted in our article, the team has a wide range of scenarios to counter no Saric for the four position this upcoming season.

Next: NBA Rumors: Philadelphia 76ers Linked to Boston Celtics

While we await Saric’s decision, we can occupy ourselves with other matters facing the Philadelphia 76ers.  We have an entire array of NBA rumors stories uncovering any links or whisperings of NBA teams back to the Sixers.  We have the upcoming draft, and the staff of the Sixer Sense has been doing great research to uncover the possibilities in the upcoming draft.
Dario Saric may or my not elect to join the Philadelphia 76ers this season.  But that shouldn’t stop anyone from feeling very positive about the team this season.