Weekly Roundup: Dario Saric To Join Sixers This Summer?

Dario Saric’s father said that his son will join the Sixers this summer | Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Every week we’ll collect some of the most interesting stories being written about the Philadelphia 76ers. You can check out previous roundups here.

This week we have updates on Dario Saric, Adam Silver chiming in on rebuilding, a 5-on-5 panel on the state of the Sixers, and an update on how the draft picks currently owed to the Sixers are shaking out.

Let’s get started.

Vedran Modric over at Eurohopes reports that Dario Saric‘s father confirmed that his son intends to play for the Sixers next season. In addition to that, Dario stated that he does not believe there is an amount of money that could make him stay in Turkey next year. I have always maintained that I’ll believe Saric comes over next summer when it happens, but all talk out of Saric and his camp is that he’s coming over to the NBA at his first available opportunity.

ESPN released a 5-on-5 style chat with Kevin Pelton, Amin Elhassan, David Thorpe, Tom Haberstroh, and Chad Ford, discussing the status of the Sixers plan. That group has a pretty diverse set of backgrounds, which leads them to a wide ranging sets of opinion, and it’s a good read.

Over at The Cauldron, Mike Honkasalo takes a look at the Nerlens Noel/Jahlil Okafor pairing, and how it’s putting Noel in a position to fail. I agree that it limits Noel offensively, but as I said yesterday, it’s almost impossible to evaluate Noel, especially defensively, when he just hasn’t been the same since it was revealed he was playing through knee tendinitis.

ESPN’s fivethirtyeight had an article about Stephen Curry (hint: he’s really good). In there they had a graphic on the best pull-up three point shooters in the league over the last two seasons. The Sixers’ Isaiah Canaan has the second best percentage in the league, behind Curry.

Adam Silver talked about Portland’s current rebuild, which of course is tough to talk about without bringing up the Sixers.

CSNPhilly reports that the city of Camden has re-opened Jahlil Okafor’s speeding case, where he was caught doing 108 mph on the Ben Franklin Bridge on October 19th. The case had previously been closed when Okafor entered a guilty plea.

I hosted a podcast with Kyle Neubeck and Max Rappaport, both of LibertyBallers.com, this week to discuss Jahlil Okafor’s off the court problems, Nerlens Noel’s recent play, and, yes, Kristaps Porzingis. You can listen to that here.

Draft Pick Tracker: 
In this space we’ll include a short update on the first round picks the Sixers are currently owed.

Sixers Pick (Protection: n/a | Current: 1st | Record: 1-19):
Last week: 1-3 (loss @Houston, loss @Memphis, win vs Lakers, loss @Knicks).
This week: vs Denver (12/5), vs Spurs (12/7), @Nets (12/10).

Lakers Pick (Protection: Top 3 | Current: 2nd | Record: 3-15):
Last week: 1-3 (loss @Blazers, loss vs Pacers, loss @Sixers, win @Wizards).
This week: @Hawks (12/4), @Pistons (12/6), @Raptors (12/7), @Wolves (12/9).

Miami Pick (Protection: Top 10 | Current 25th | Record: 11-6):
Last week: 2-1 (win @Knicks, loss vs Celtics, win vs Thunder).
This week: vs Cleveland (12/5), vs Wizards (12/7), @Hornets (12/9).

OKC Pick (Protection: Top 15 | Current: t 20th| Record: 11-8):
Last week: 1-2 (win vs Pistons, loss @Hawks, loss @Heat).
This week: vs Kings (12/6), @Grizzlies (12/8), vs Hawks (12/10).

Pick Swaps:
Sacramento Pick (Action: Swap w/Sixers | Current: t 5th | Record: 7-13):
Last week: 1-3 (loss vs Wolves, loss @Warriors, win vs Mavs, loss vs Celtics).
This week: @Rockets (12/5), @Thunder (12/6), vs Jazz (12/8), vs Knicks (12/10).

Golden State Pick (Action: Swap w/Heat or OKC | Current: 30th | Record: 20-0, Losing: Never):
Last week: 4-0 (win @Suns), win vs Kings, win @Jazz, win @Hornets).
This week: @Raptors (12/5), @Nets (12/6), @Pacers (12/8).

Derek Bodner covers the 76ers for Philadelphia magazine’s new Sixers Post. Follow @DerekBodnerNBA on Twitter.