By: Brandon Apter, managing editor 
It's no surprise to anyone that this offseason is an extremely important one for the Philadelphia 76ers. Draft picks aplenty and the potential additions of both Dario Saric and Joel Embiid. Fans have gotten glimpses of Embiid's workouts through rehab, but Saric's game is an unknown to most that don't follow Euroleague basketball. Saric has shown vast improvement this season for Turkish Basketball Super League affiliate Anadaolu Efes. With four games remaining in the regular season, Saric is averaging 11.7 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 40.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Croatia released their preliminary 26-man roster for their Olympic team on Monday and Saric was one of players to make the cut. He'll join Bojan Bogdanovic of the Nets, Mario Hezonja of the Magic, Damjan Rudez of the Timberwolves, and Duje Dukan of the Kings on the preliminary roster. According to Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com, Croatia is ranked 12th in the FIBA World poll. The Olympic tournament will feature 18 different nations and take place from July 4th-10th in Belgrade, Serbia; Manila, Phillippines; and Turin, Italy. Seltzer reports that Saric and Croatia have been assigned to play in the Turin pod, along with Greece, Iran, Italy, Mexico, and Tunisia.
Saric, 22, was acquired by the Sixers in a draft night trade with the Magic in 2014, sending Elfrid Payton to Orlando. Sixers head coach Brett Brown mentioned in his end-of-season media session, that he keeps in touch with Saric regularly and views him as a guy that resembles Draymond Green or Boris Diaw.
In addition to wanting Saric to work on his three-point game, Brown summarized his take on him this season as, “Shooting, stretch-the-court threes, improved free throws, continued toughness, continued ability to pass, continued ability to rebound and lead a break. But it’s wrapped up in a more refined player, especially shooting.”
“Watch the last six minutes of NBA playoffs and look who’s on the floor,” Brown said. “It’s people like him. It’s do-alls.” [CSNPhilly.com]
Although it has been reported Saric plans to join the Sixers this upcoming season, staying overseas for another year would remove him from the NBA's rookie pay scale. His improvement this year have shown in his numbers. Saric's field goal percentage went up from 43.3 percent to 50 percent and his three-point shooting took a jump from 30.6 percent to 40.3 percent. In 22.5 minutes per game, Saric is averaging 11.7 points and 5.8 rebounds. That equals out to 18.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per 36 minutes.
