Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia 76ers
PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Philadelphia 76ers announced today that the team has signed forward Dario Saric. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We are thrilled to finally announce the highly anticipated signing of Dario Saric to an NBA player contract with the Philadelphia 76ers,” said Sixers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo. “Our basketball team stands to benefit from both the on-court development and physical maturation of Dario as a professional player in Croatia and Turkey over the last few years.”
The Sixers acquired the rights to Saric in a 2014 draft-night trade with Orlando after the Magic selected him with the 12th overall pick. Since being drafted, Saric has spent two seasons with Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketball Super League. In 2015-16, he averaged 11 points and six rebounds over 37 games while shooting 48 percent from the floor and helped lead Anadolu Efes to an appearance in the Turkish BSL Finals. Saric improved his three-point field goal percentage to 41 percent in 2015-16 after shooting 34 percent the previous season.
Saric is a two-time recipient of the FIBA Europe Young Men’s Player of the Year Award (2014, 2013). Jonas Valanciunas and Ricky Rubio are the only other players to win the award multiple times.
Recently, the 22 year-old Saric was named MVP of the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament after averaging 14 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists for his native Croatia. He tallied 18 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in an 84-78 overtime win over Italy in the tournament final on July 9.
