Report: Sixers Want Dario Saric Now

Ever since the Sixers acquired the rights to Dario Sarić on draft night last year, Philly fans have been impatiently waiting for him to come to the team. The Sixers’ struggles this past season, coupled with Sarić’s impressive performances in the Euroleague and the Turkish Basketball League for Anadolu Efes, have further added to the fans’ desire to see the crafty Croatian put on a Sixers uniform sooner rather than later.

Apparently, it is not only the fans who are impatient in this regard as an executive recently spoke out about the situation. David Pick reported yesterday that someone in the Sixers organization expressed a desire to bring Sarić over for this upcoming season.

Philadelphia in talks to lure overseas asset Dario Saric to U.S., I'm told. He is under contract and Turks love him.

— David Pick (@IAmDPick) June 10, 2015

I doubt Efes surrender Dario Saric, but notion among Sixers official is – "we want him now".

— David Pick (@IAmDPick) June 10, 2015

The Sixers’ desire to bring Sarić over is only one part of the equation, however. As alluded to in Pick’s tweets above, Efes has to agree to part with their top talent, which they will be reluctant to do. There is no clear incentive for the team to let Sarić go any sooner than they need to.

For the Sixers to get Sarić to come stateside for this upcoming season, they would need to buy out his current contract. This buyout amount would most likely be upwards of two million dollars. Given the Sixers’ tremendous amount of cap room, this does not seem to be a particularly burdensome amount of money. However, their contribution to buying out Sarić’s contract is limited by the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. The team would only be able to pay about $625,000 of the hypothetical buyout amount, according to Sixers beat writer Derek Bodner.

#sixers can only contribute $625k to a buyout. Whatever buyout they could negotiate with Efes likely much more. https://t.co/jvp0wVQb2q

— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) June 10, 2015

This would mean the rest of the money would be up to Dario himself to pay. So, coming over this year is not a pleasant financial proposition for him. This is especially true when we consider that foreign players who wait at least three years to sign with the NBA team that holds their rights can dodge the restrictive rookie-scale contract. The rookie-scale contract essentially locks a player in to a low-money deal for the better part of a decade. Sarić would be much better off waiting until 2017 to sign a deal with the Sixers, as difficult as that may be for fans (and team officials) to hear.

So, while the news that the Sixers are working to bring Dario Sarić to the team for this upcoming season is heartening, it does not alter the fundamental realities of the situation. It was, and is, better financially for Sarić to hold off on coming to Philly. For now, we can only wait for this high-ceiling prospect to finally take his talents to South Broad Street.

Jay Naborn

J.J. Naborn covers the Sixers and the Union for the Philly Sports Cave. He hails from beautiful Jenkintown, PA and loves basketball almost as much as Adam Peterson does. He is currently a sophomore at Tufts University, where most of his waking hours are spent pondering the future of the Sixers.

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