Dario Saric Would Come To The NBA For The Boston Celtics? So What?
The other day, news broke that Dario Saric, the star Croatian big man who was named the MVP of the Adriatic League this year, would absolutely leave Europe to come play in the NBA if the Boston Celtics or the Los Angeles Lakers drafted him.
To which I say, move on – nothing to see here.
Look: Saric is a talented baller. He is going to be drafted by an NBA team this year, probably during the first round, and should he come to the States he might become a valuable contributor on a successful team. I wish him a long, healthy, and productive career.
Just not with the Boston Celtics.
Let’s start with the most widely-discussed knock on Saric: his defensive limitations. The same traits that make him a tough match-up for the opposition, his size and versatility, make him a weak link on the defensive end of things. See, Saric is a jack-of-all trades, but master of none, which means he is woefully outmatched in many areas. He’s not athletic enough to cover the league’s best small forwards, and despite being 6’10” he is nowhere near strong enough to contain monsters such as David Lee, Kevin Love or Zach Randolph in the low post. Boston’s interior defense was shredded last year by strong frontcourts; adding Saric is just inviting more of the same.
It goes without saying that the reason Saric is attracting so much attention from NBA scouts is because of his tantalizing offensive skills. His size allows him to post up on small forwards, and his range forces power forwards to leave the paint to guard him, opening the floor for his own drives or cuts to the basket from his teammates. Saric handles the ball wall, moves well when he doesn’t have the rock, and is a solid rebounder, as well. He could very well become a point forward for an NBA team . . . but there’s no way he will be handling the rock as much as he did overseas while playing alongside one of the best pass-first point guard in the NBA, Rajon Rondo.
Look: Saric is a talented baller. I wish him a long, healthy, and productive career.
Just not with the Boston Celtics.
And if he’s not handling the rock, there goes half of his potential.
Maybe the fact that Saric specifically mentioned the Boston Celtics as a possibility means that he is willing to accept a reduced ball-handling role, but I doubt it. Take away his creativity, limit him to a spot-up shooter or someone who has to continually work to get open, and what you have is . . . not Dario Saric.
Long story short: Dario Saric is a talent many teams should take a good, long look at, but the Boston Celtics should not be one of those teams He would be just one more liability on D, and unless he is willing to become the 6th man, Boston will never be able to fully harness his offensive potential with Rajon Rondo running the offense. Sretno (“good luck”), Saric! We won’t be seeing you in Boston Celtics green and white any time soon.
I’ll try to secure a video scouting report of Saric later today, but for now, here is a link to Draft Express‘ profile of him!