July 17 Just Became Important To The Philadelphia 76ers

Road Show

As the team deliberates how to optimize the 2016 NBA Draft picks, and fields offers and considers various trade scenarios with other NBA teams, there was unfinished business to address.   And so, President Bryan Colangelo and head coach Brett Brown boarded a plane bound for Istanbul Turkey, to watch Dario Saric compete.

Afterwards, the comments of Bryan Colangelo seemed to suggest that the Philadelphia 76ers were greatly impressed with Saric’s play:

"Trip to Europe was great,” Colangelo said Monday June 13. “Had a nice chance to sit and talk to Dario Saric. Got a chance to watch him play in a very competitive playoff game and competitive series.I saw a much-improved player from what I saw three or four years ago.He’s gotten physically bigger, physically stronger, he runs the floor very well. He does a lot of things. He’s highly skilled with the ball. He’s creating shots for himself with stepback dribbles, cross-over dribbles, etc., and he’s shooting the ball much, much better than what I remember and what I recall from three or four years ago. At the end of the day, I think that Dario is a much-improved basketball player. I think he’s, at the age of 22, he’s ready to make that jump to playing professional basketball for a while. Coach [Brown] and I both expressed to him, and I think he understands, that this would be a good time for him to come over for a lot of different reasons. Number one, the make-up of our team and the roster right now would lend itself to considerable playing time, or an opportunity to earn that playing time. Can’t necessarily project out what it’s going to look like at this time next year, but this is a good time for him and a good time for us, we feel, for him to make this jump. He’s been exposed to a lot. He’s very articulate about the game of basketball. His basketball I.Q. is very high. Just in listening to a conversation he had with Coach Brown, I was very impressed with his overall understanding of even just simple concept of guarding a pick and roll, things that appear simple on paper, but aren’t so simple when talk about all the situations that the form that it can take, But the discussion, the dialogue, it was very impressive, and I know that whenever he does come over, he’s going to be an asset for us. We’re prepared to do what is necessary on our part to make that happen.”"

But this was Bryan Colangelo’s first meeting with Dario Saric.  In mid-eastern culture, business comes after building the relationship.  It’s clear from this description that the urgency of the decision was the primary topic.

Perhaps it could have gone better if there was a longer investment in getting to meet, discuss, and bond.   As it stands, the team left with nothing more than a July 17th ultimatum.

Next: July 17 Could Mean Much More To This Team