Dario Saric Wants To Play For The Celtics Or The Lakers And That's It?

Jonathon Givony, head honcho at draftexpress.com, gives his thoughts post-lottery (he's calling in from LA, where a lot of prospects are working out.  Danny etal are there too).  He offers an opinion on Dario Saric, of Croatia, who has moved up the rankings quite impressively.  According to Givorny, he thinks that Saric will play in the NBA next year for the Celtics or the Lakers but if they pass then he'll stay in Europe.  Saric was the MVP of the Adriatic League Playoffs (which his team, Cibona, won).

Here's what Givony said, when asked if Saric would come over from Europe:

“What I’ve been told is that if Saric is drafted six or seven in Boston or LA, he’ll be in the NBA next year. Anything lower than that, it’s not just where he goes but what team does he go to. Any of the other ones, and it’s a question mark how quickly he’ll come over and how willing he’ll be. He’s trying to play this game a little bit, like Parker, Embiid and the other guys. He has leverage though, because like Jabari Parker, what’s he going to say “I’m just not going to play basketball”? “I’m going to go on a Mormon mission”? Maybe, but Saric really has other options. He can sign with Barcelona and then you’re screwed. There’s a lot of work to be done with that kid and his camp before a team is ready to use such a high pick on him.

“I would compare him…remember how good Hedo Turkoglu was when he was in Orlando? He was the MAN. People remember the Clipper version that stinks, but people who remember Hedo when he was awesome, that’s Dario’s best case scenario.”


This is an audio podcast, so you have to go out to the link to hear it at the 22:40 mark (you can just click forward and skip ahead) to hear the part about Saric and the C's and LAL, if you just want to cut to that chase.

6'10", 225#, average wingspan, 20 years old (April).

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/5/23/5742818/draftexpress-podcast-jonathan-givony-nba-draft-2014


Here's Saric' draftexpress scouting video.  Draftexpress has him going #9.  It's not a big jump from 9th to 6th or 7th.





Here's draftexpress report of Saric in the playoffs.






They talk about Nurkic after Saric (the Hood etal discussion took place after Nurkic).  Draftexpress has Nurkic going #11.  Most have him going lower.  He'll be 20 in August.

“Big kid, 6’11, 280, huge hands, very mobile, gets up and down the floor, can hedge the pick-and-roll, really athletic for a guy that’s that huge. Kind of a Pekovic-type…just a horse in the paint, but different in that he can pass and shoot. He’s a very unique player.

That guy can score. He averaged 27 points per 40 minutes in a serious league, playing for the second-best team in the league. (Tom’s note: Nurkic had an eye-popping 44.8 PER in eight games in the Adriatic League in 2013) He’s young too. Really, really unique talent.”






Also, they compare Randle and Vonleh at about the 16 minute mark and talk about Gordon's shooting woes at the 20 minute mark and can they be fixed.  They talk about other prospects including Hood, Stauskas, Lavine (whom draftexpress has us taking at #17) and others.



This wasn't a Celtic-centric interview, the Celtics and Lakers were mentioned only in regard to Saric' future, the rest is just about the prospects regardless of where they end up.  The last 3 minutes he drops the names of some players that he thinks might be dark horses in the draft.  If you're into the whole draft process and who these players are that will find themselves in the NBA next year, I found it interesting to have this going in my ear while I did other stuff on the computer.





bob



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