On The Defensive Side
No one tries harder than Dario Saric on both ends of the floor. You can see by how he relates in defensive metrics that despite his physical limitations, he is not a terrible defender. He most closely equates to Blake Griffin on the defensive side of the ball.
| Player | TRB% | STL% | BLK% | DRtg |
| Kevin Love | 19.5 | 1.4 | 1 | 106.6 |
| Anthony Davis | 17.4 | 1.8 | 5.1 | 101.2 |
| Dario Saric | 13.3 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 108.9 |
| Draymond Green | 13.3 | 3 | 3.4 | 99.6 |
| Blake Griffin | 13.5 | 1.4 | 1 | 107.8 |
| Derrick Favors | 14.9 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 101.7 |
| Paul Millsap | 12.5 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 103.7 |
| Serge Ibaka | 12.3 | 0.9 | 4.2 | 107.8 |
| Markieff Morris | 11.7 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 108.9 |
| LaMarcus Aldridge | 12.8 | 1 | 3 | 104.8 |
Stats via RealGM
Draymond Green jumps out as an absolute monster defensively in this view. His length and quickness and ability to jump passing lanes and switch onto players bigger and smaller is just world class.
Pure Power Forward
Dario does not have the kind of defensive versatility to really defend anyone other than other power forwards. He lacks the quickness to defend the perimeter. Conversely he lacks the length to defend opposing Centers or protect the rim. Again in the right role he can clearly be an extremely valuable player but there is a huge gulf between good and great.
Dario can become a decent to good defender at the power forward spot. He will likely never be a great defender in Brett Brown’s switch heavy pace and space defensive system.