On draft night in 2014, the Philadelphia 76ers had selected Joel Embiid with the third pick and had another lottery pick in their back pocket.
With the 10th pick in the draft, the Sixers selected Elfrid Payton from Louisiana. It was a peculiar pick since they had already selected a point guard, Michael Carter-Williams, in 2013, but the Sixers then traded Payton to the Orlando Magic for the 12th pick, which became Dario Saric.
Saric did not make his NBA debut until the 2016-17 season; he stayed in Europe for two more seasons. But he made a splash quickly with the Sixers. He was in the running for Rookie of the Year by averaging 12.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in his rookie season. He then averaged 14.6 points and 2.6 rebounds while helping the Sixers make the playoffs in 2018.
Saric played 13 games for the Sixers in the 2018-19 season averaging 11.1 points before he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the deal that brought Jimmy Butler to Philadelphia. He is now with the Phoenix Suns and he made the NBA Finals in 2021 before tearing his ACL in the series and he missed all of the 2021-22 season.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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