Over the past several months, a 19-year-old phenom out of Croatia has been soaring up draft boards and is even in discussions to be a top-10 draft pick after somewhat surprisingly declaring for the 2013 NBA Draft a few weeks ago. His name is Dario Saric, and he has a rare skill-set that any NBA team would love to add to their young core.
At 6’10”, Saric operates as a point forward with great vision as a passer, and he can score in a variety of ways on offense. He has very good range and the ability to knock down three pointers. His high release point is another strength in his arsenal.
Despite lacking ideal strength, he still displays some established post moves that allow him to be a threat in the paint offensively. His great length and hands also allow him to be an outstanding rebounder.
As you’d expect, Saric is very raw, and his bust potential seems to be really high. He’s probably a bit of a project and needs to do some maturing before becoming a very effective player in the NBA. He’s a streaky player as well; one day he’ll knock down every shot he takes, and on the next, he won’t be able to hit the broad side of a barn.
His defensive game is far from ideal as well. He lacks great lateral quickness and gets blown by quite often. Luckily for Saric, his great length can sometimes make up for that, but this aspect of his game still has a lot of improving to do.
He definitely needs to add some strength if he wants to maximize his full potential within the NBA. His lack of strength has led to him struggling to convert difficult shots at the rim early in his career. He doesn’t handle contact very well either.
Luckily for Saric, he is only 19 and is still adding strength to his frame; scouts estimate he added around 10 pounds to it just over the last year alone. He needs to continue to do this in order to become a better player.
Saric also makes a lot of mistakes on the court. He takes bad shots and makes bad decisions; his assist/turnover ratio was a dismal 2.1/2.3 during the 15 games he played in the Adriatic League throughout the past season.
Saric plays around 23.5 minutes per game and scored 7.7 points per contest, shooting 36.8% from the field and 30.8% on three pointers. The most impressive stat in his column is the 6.1 rebounds he pulled down per fixture.
Another aspect of Saric’s game that really needs improving is his free throw shooting. Despite it being a small sample size, Saric still only shot 50% from the stripe this past campaign, which is horrendous for a player who will be spending much of his time on the wing at the next level.
Saric’s stats are pretty mediocre. He will be drafted fully on potential which is why he should be a top-15 selection come June. He’s shown the ability to pretty much do it all on the court. The question is, can he channel it all together and elevate his game to the next level?
If he can accomplish that, he’ll probably end up being the best player from this weak 2013 NBA Draft Class. He’s the top international prospect on the board, and some scouts love him so much that they’ve called him the “best European prospect of the past decade.”
The jury is still out on Saric, and he continues to garner more hype on a daily basis. Some scouts love him and some hate him, so it’s going to be really fun to see how he pans out at the next level.
NBA Player Comparison: Ersan Ilyasova
Ilyasova is a decent comparison for Saric but a rather lofty one. Ilyasova is also 6’10” and plays the same position as Saric (SF). However, Ilyasova weighs in at 235, whereas Saric is still only at 223. This reiterates the point that it’s crucial for Saric to add some more strength to his frame. Ilyasova is a very good shooter, probably better than Saric will ever be, but he doesn’t have the court vision and passing ability of Saric.
By Brian Emory
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