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Comparing Dario Saric’s Preseason to Other Power Forwards

By Michael Bronson

Oct 6, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Dario Saric (9) in action against the Washington Wizards at Wells Fargo Center. The Washington Wizards 125-119. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 6, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Dario Saric (9) in action against the Washington Wizards at Wells Fargo Center. The Washington Wizards 125-119. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the Philadelphia 76ers‘ NBA preseason over, how does Dario Saric‘s preseason stats compare to other NBA power forwards.

Drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 12th pick of the 2014 NBA draft, Dario Saric made good on his promise to join the Sixers after playing two seasons for Anadolu Efes in Instanbul, Turkey.

Saric averaged 9.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game his first season with Anadolu Efes, and 11.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game his second season. While Saric’s rebounding and assist went down, his 3-point attempts and accuracy went up. Saric attempted 62 3-point shots his first season making 43 percent of them, and increased is the amount of 3-pointers he took is second season by 10 and made 50 percent of them.

Through six preseason games with the Sixers this month Saric averaged 10.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1 assist, 0.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game, while playing 21.1 minutes per game. Comparing Saric’s stats to the highest draft power forward in 2016 Dragan Bender (drafted by the Phoenix Suns with fourth pick), Saric’s numbers look really good.

In six preseason games, Bender averaged 3.8 points, 4 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.3 steals, and 1.0 block, while playing 21.6 minutes per game. Part of the reason Bender was drafted so high was his 3-point shooting. Bender shot 34 percent from behind the 3-point line last year for Euroleague’s Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv, but has struggled to make threes during the preseason. Making only 16 percent of his threes, Bender’s percentage was much worse than Saric’s 31 percent.

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While Saric clearly outplayed Bender during the 2016 preseason, Bender’s teammate and the second power forward taken in the draft Marquese Chriss outplayed both of them. Chriss was the eighth pick in the 2016 draft and averaged 12.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 1.0 block, 1.7 steals per game, while averaging 25.4 minutes per game through six games. Among rookie power forwards this preseason, Chriss ranked third in points and rebounds per game, and second in steals and blocks per game, while only Saric managed to make the top five in points per game at fourth place.

The last power forward drafted in the lottery of the 2016 draft Thon Maker had the worst preseason among the four players. Taken by the Milwaukee Bucks with the tenth pick, he averaged 3.4 points, 2 rebounds, 0.2 assists, 0.2 blocks, and 0 steals per game, while playing 14.6 minutes per game through four games. Maker (19), Chriss (19), and Bender (18) are all younger than Saric (22), so it’s possible that all three rookie power forwards eventually become better players than Saric due to having more time to improve.

21-year-old Julius Randle is a power forward that was drafted five spots ahead of Saric in the 2014 draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Randle averaged 8.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.2 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game while playing 20.9 minutes per game through 8 games during his first preseason.

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While Randle only played in one game during the 2014-15 season before suffering a season ending injury, his 2015-16 stats are a good example of what to expect from Saric this season. Randle averaged 11.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game that season.

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While I don’t expect Saric to win or be a top three contender for Rookie of the Year this season or become an NBA superstar, he should have a good rookie campaign. I predict Saric ends the 2016-17 season averaging close to 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists per game, while making 32 percent of his threes.