When it comes to 2014 Sixers Draft Pick Dario Saric, patience is virtue.
Contrary to recent reports that the Sixers were actively trying to buy out Saric's contract with the Turkish Basketball League, this morning brings news from consummate NBA insider Chad Ford that Saric will in fact remain in Turkey for another year.
Sixers 2014 draftee Dario Saric will not play for the 76ers next season his agent, Jeff Schwartz, tells ESPN. Link coming …
— Chad Ford (@chadfordinsider) June 22, 2015
This should be neither surprising nor disappointing for Sixers fans if they have been paying attention. As our own Patrick Causey explained in a post last week, there are a plethora of reasons for Saric to not come over this year. Go read his post for a nice explanation, but to summarize, the Sixers are legally barred from committing too much money to any buyout attempt making it hard to create a lucrative buyout offer for his Turkish team. Also, Saric stands to make significantly more money in the NBA by waiting, both because of CBA language around the contract he'll sign when he gets here, as well as the rising salary cap due to the the incoming flux of TV money. Basically, it makes way more financial sense for Saric and his team to wait to come over. It might even make sense for him to wait 3 years instead of two, so don't get your hopes up about next year either.
Here's why Sixers fans shouldn't be disappointed though. This is a very common process, and one that has worked out for many other teams. Did you know that Manu Ginobli was drafted in 1999, but did not play for the Spurs until 2002? How about Nikola Mirotic, he of being in the contention for Rookie of the Year this past season? Drafted by the Bulls in 2011. This is how these types of deals typically go down. It doesn't mean Saric doesn't want to come, it doesn't mean he isn't good, it won't stunt his development.
So we continue to wait, and in the meantime enjoy Max Rappaport's live tweeting of Turkish bball games.
With Efes down 29-24 w/ 8:00 left in Q2, Dario Saric checks back in. He’s working with two personals that forced him out of the game early.
— Max Rappaport (@MaxRappaport) June 19, 2015
