The Philadelphia 76ers are in the middle of another awful season and have the worst record in the league. For the first time in a long time though, it seems like they might have a little hope for the future. That might sound like a crazy statement considering they have just eight wins this season, but they have a bunch of young players with bright futures.
The headliners of the young players are Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel and even Joel Embiid, despite the fact that he hasn't played a single NBA game yet. Another player Philadelphia is excited about is Dario Saric. Saric is currently playing in Turkey, but the 76ers are confident that they will get him to come to the United States next season.
"Obviously, decisions are going to have to be made on his part," 76ers head coach Brett Brown said. "But we like what we see and we believe he likes what he sees.
The Croatian big man is playing for Anadolus Efes of the Turkish Basketball League, but he has said that he plans to join the 76ers next season. Saric is in the second year of his three-year deal with his Turkish club, but the third year is a player option, so it is very reasonable to expect him to decline that option.
The 6-foot-10 forward was the 12th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic, but the 76ers acquried his rights on draft night. They gave up the No. 10 pick in that draft for Saric and although they also got a 2017 first-round pick, they really like him. That 10th overall pick turned into Elfrid Payton who was first team all-rookie last season, but if Saric is as good as they hope he could end up being the better player.
76ers fans might be thinking that they do not need another big man and they should just trade Saric, but he is different than all of their current big men. The 21-year-old forward, although he is 6-foot-10, can stretch the defense as evidenced by his 40 percent three-point mark this season. Overall, in 19 games, Saric has averaged 11.6 points and 5.3 rebounds while making 51 percent of his field goals in just over 22 minutes per game.
Saric is still extremely young but he is obviously a talented player considering he was drafted 12th overall. The Croatian has gotten much better since the day he was drafted so it should not be a surprise that the 76ers are so high on him. Okafor, Noel and Embiid get mentioned the most when talking about Philadelphia's future, but don't forget about Saric.
