Philadelphia 76ers: Dario Saric, the emerging and overlooked Sixer

Lost amidst the hype of several of his Philadelphia 76ers teammates has been the stellar play of emerging second-year forward Dario Saric.

At 30-25, the Philadelphia 76ers have already exceeded their win total from last season, and are currently in the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

Naturally, most of the plaudits for their rise this season has been directed toward the duo of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Having already played in 44 games this season after registering just 31 games over his first three seasons combined, Embiid has taken the league by storm in averaging 23.7 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 blocks in 31.4 minutes per game. As a result, he was selected as the starting center for the Eastern Conference at the All-Star Game in Los Angeles.

Then there is Simmons, who has compiled one of the more remarkable rookie seasons in recent memory. Currently ranked third in the league with six triple-doubles, Simmons is averaging 16.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.9 steals in 34.9 minutes per game. When you add in the contributions made by offseason acquisition J.J. Redick, it’s understandable that certain players on the Sixers’ roster have been underappreciated for their efforts to this point.

One of these players is second-year forward Dario Saric.

Following a strong finish to his rookie season, Saric commenced the season in the second unit, with head coach Brett Brown running with guard Jerryd Bayless in a preferred smaller lineup. As a result, the first five games of the season saw Saric average just 5.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in only 21.4 minutes of action.

Following an early-season injury to Redick, Saric was thrust back into the starting lineup, and he hasn’t looked back.

In 49 games as a starter, the 6’10” Croatian native has averaged 15.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 31.7 minutes per game. With the ball dominance of the likes of Embiid and Simmons, Saric’s ability to play as a prototypical stretch-4 and spread the floor has been invaluable.

What’s most impressive has been Saric’s unselfishness in playing within the team concept. Here’s a couple of lesser-known statistical areas and where Saric ranks on the team in these areas:

• Average seconds per touch: 1.61 seconds (16th)
• Assisted field goals made: 77.2 percent

So not only does the ball not stick when it’s in Saric’s possession, he’s also primarily reliant on the work of his teammates and the Sixers’ system in order to get good looks and contribute to the team. With creators such as Simmons and T.J. McConnell constantly lurking, Saric’s ability to find his spots on the floor and make things happen provides a terrific complement.

However, it’s been over the past couple of months in which Saric has really taken his game to another level. As Derek Bodner of The Athletic tweeted out recently:

Furthermore during this span, Saric has also contributed the following:

• Plus/Minus: +155
• Net Rating: +12.1

Overall, its been Saric’s consistency that has propelled him as the season has progressed, whereby he’s currently on a streak of 35 games consecutive games in which he has posted 10 points or more.

Over the past five seasons, only Karl-Anthony Towns (68 games), Damian Lillard (58), Victor Oladipo (43) and his own teammate in Embiid (44) are ranked ahead of him in this category. With 27 games still remaining, there’s every chance Saric and Embiid can significantly add to their totals.

Ultimately, it’s been Saric’s ability to knock down the 3-ball that has allowed him to take his game to the next level. As Kyle Neubeck of Philly Voice stated in a recent piece:

"“Philadelphia’s coach stressed to Saric that his future hinged on making shots from NBA three-point range, giving Saric a clear goal to work toward during the summer….It was on Saric to put in the reps and translate that into in-game progress, and he has crushed it this year.”"

After shooting at just a 33.1 percent clip on 4.9 attempts over his first 33 games, Saric has struck at an elite 46.2 percent return on 5.3 attempts over his past 22 games. Now with the addition of veteran sharpshooter Marco Belinelli, in combination with the Sixers’ other main snipers in J.J. Redick and Robert Covington, coach Brown now finds himself with a multitude of options as the business end of the season approaches.

Next: 2017-18 Week 18 NBA Power Rankings

For the time being, the Sixers are more than happy for Dario Saric to fly under-the-radar if his recent level of production is able to continue and ascend.