Citing a source, CSN Philly's Jessica Camerato first reported Wednesday that Saric will sign his contract with the Sixers on Friday. International basketball insider David Pick confirmed that Sixers general manager Bryan Colangelo informed Saric's Turkish club, Anadolu Efes, that the team will sign Saric this weekend and contribute toward his €1 million buyout.
Saric appeared in 24 games for Efes during the 2015-16 Euroleague season, and his performance engendered optimism that he will be able to make a seamless transition to the NBA game.
In just 22.5 minutes a night, Saric averaged 11.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 50 percent from the field and 40.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Sixers head coach Brett Brown spoke Tuesday night on an NBA TV broadcast about Saric's impeding arrival (via CSNPhilly.com's Andy Schwartz):
For those who haven't seen him play, there will be a real excitement of how versatile he is. There is a toughness that the city of Philadelphia is just going to fall in love with. He's a bull-in-a-china-shop type player. He can rebound, lead a break, he can hit threes — that's the thing I think I'm most excited about watching the growth of his game.
With Saric, 2016 No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons and 2014 No. 3 overall selection Joel Embiid all in tow, the Sixers now have a stacked roster loaded with versatile bigs, as The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears noted:
Marc J. Spears @MarcJSpearsESPNSixers believe they have three 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year candidates in Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid & Dario Saric. Embiid in great shape now.
The key for Brown will be figuring out how to get all of his key frontcourt pieces involved since he also has to manage the minutes of centers Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor—provided they're both still on the roster come opening night.
But even if Philadelphia does have a logjam up front, it's a good problem to have.
The Sixers roster has been devoid of compelling talent for years now, and an influx of lottery-caliber players stands to make Brown's job far easier than it was when the team purveyed lineups that featured a revolving door of NBA Development League prospects.
