Tag: Dario Saric

Player grades: SGA-less Thunder help the Spurs’ lottery odds in 102-90 win

Player grades for the Thunder’s 102-90 win over the Spurs on Sunday.

Without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder kept their momentum going as they defeated the under-manned San Antonio Spurs, 102-90.

Gilgeous-Alexander sat out the second night of the back-to-back as the Thunder continue to manage his abdominal strain for the remainder of the season.

With the win, the Thunder have won three consecutive games and five of their last six contests. An impressive turnaround from the five-game losing streak they endured coming out of the All-Star break.

“I thought the way we started the game was very positive,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “It’s a tough back-to-back with tough travel, short turnaround, finished late last night and lost an hour of sleep.”

The lottery-picked rookies led the way for the Thunder as Jalen Williams recorded a near 21-point triple double and Ousmane Dieng turned in his best game of his rookie season.

“They’re taking advantage of their opportunities. I give them a lot of credit,” Daigneault said about Williams and Dieng. “They’re workers and they show up every day and attack the program… They’ve improved as a result and they’re talented players.”

Despite the win, it was an ugly and bogged down game where it was clear the Thunder struggled playing on short rest of the second night of a road back-to-back that occurred during daylight savings time.

Both teams shot below 40% from the field and below 30% from 3. The Thunder shot 36-of-95 (37.9%) from the field and 10-of-39 (25.6%) from 3. Meanwhile, the Spurs shot 33-of-88 (37.5%) from the field and 10-of-36 (27.8%) from 3.

The Spurs continue to be one of the worst teams in the league as they missed Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan. Malaki Branham was also ruled out for the game after six minutes. With the loss, the Spurs remain in the race for the worst record in the league and continue to strengthen their spot as a top-three lottery odds team.

After a lethargic start, the Thunder eventually built a 29-19 lead after the first quarter. By halftime, that lead was trimmed to five points.

The Spurs eventually tied it in the third quarter at 59-59 with 9:12 left, but the Thunder proceeded to go on a 10-0 run to re-establish control as they never surrendered the lead the rest of the way.

The Spurs were led by veteran wing Zach Collins, who finished with 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 11 rebounds. Sharpshooter DeVonte’ Graham also scored 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting and 4-of-11 shooting from 3.

Just like Saturday’s win against the New Orleans Pelicans, while it wasn’t a pretty win against a Spurs squad missing several key players, that won’t reflect in the standings and the Thunder should not apologize for wins.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.

Player grades: Thunder snap 0-8 streak vs. Warriors in 137-128 win

Player grades for the Thunder’s 137-128 win over the Warriors.

OKLAHOMA CITY — In the opening minutes, it was evident this game wasn’t going to play out like the first two between the teams this season.

Thanks to an SGA driving dunk, the Golden State Warriors were forced to call a timeout less than three minutes into the game as the Oklahoma City Thunder created a 9-2 advantage.

After losing their previous two matchups this season against the Warriors by an average of 17.5 points, the young Thunder weren’t going to get bullied by the defending champions for a third time.

Snapping an eight-game losing streak against the Warriors, the Thunder ended their six-game homestand exorcising their Golden State demons in a 137-128 win.

This was the Thunder’s first win over the Warriors since November 2019 — over three years ago. The only Thunder player remaining from that roster is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. It was about time for a win.

Speaking of — the starting backcourt duo highlighted the Thunder win. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and Josh Giddey collected an impressive triple-double of 17 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds.

The Thunder started off strong as they led, 40-30, following the first quarter in a high-scoring affair. The Warriors, who are 7-25 on the road this season, clawed back into the game due to a flurry of 3s Thunder fans have unfortunately grown accustomed to this.

“The game can be going poorly for them and the next thing you know, it’s like an 8-0 spurt and they get themselves going. They’ve done that for a decade,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said.

The rest of the game played out like a heavyweight boxing fight between a decorated veteran and a young up-and-comer. Neither team led by more than 15 points as they continuously exchanged blows and were constantly in arm’s length of each other on the scoreboard.

“A lot of runs but we just never let ourselves get knocked down. Ate some punches and kept coming,” Daigneault said.

For the Warriors, Stephen Curry lit up OKC from deep as he finished with 40 points on 14-of-23 shooting and went a ridiculous 10-of-16 from 3. This was Curry’s NBA-record 23rd game with at least 10 made 3-pointers.

Each time Curry worked his magic, he drew the biggest cheers from the OKC crowd that was a healthy split of Thunder fans and Warriors fans.

Klay Thompson, who owns the second-most games in NBA history with at least 10 made 3-pointers at nine, also killed the Thunder, scoring 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting and 5-of-13 shooting from 3.

Draymond Green contributed 11 points, 11 assists and thousands of crowd boos. Jonathan Kuminga scored 21 points.

The Warriors had an outstanding night from 3 — going 20-of-51 (39.2%) — but they were nearly matched by the Thunder, who went 17-of-37 (45.9%) from outside.

After losing five consecutive games after the All-Star break, the Thunder have won three in a row and are tied for 10th place in the Western Conference with 17 regular-season games remaining — something that excites both fans and Gilgeous-Alexander.

“It’s exciting. I think meaningful basketball games are the best part of the season,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Late stretch, playoff games — those are games that we live for.”

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.

Player grades: Thunder swept by Kings in season series with 123-117 loss

Player grades for the Thunder’s 123-117 loss to the Kings.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Much like their last meeting two days prior, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for a third consecutive game, struggled against the Sacramento Kings in a 123-117 loss.

Outside of the two opening points, the Thunder never led against the Kings. The Thunder concluded their season series against the Kings with an 0-3 record.

Outside of Dario Saric and Jalen Williams, it was a tough night for the Thunder, especially Josh Giddey and Lu Dort. The duo were a minu-32 and minus-28, respectively, when on the court in limited time.

The duo averaged 20 minutes in the loss but according to Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, their below-average playing time was more about other players on the roster.

“It’s never an indictment on the guy that’s not playing. It’s always usually a reward for the guys that are,” Daigneault said. “First of all, Josh and Lu are important players for us. They’ve been important players for us. They’re going to be important players for us.

“I think when you’ve got 82 games — and we’re building on a timeline much longer than 82 games — I think guys on the team feeling like they can touch the outcome of the games and add value and add impact to the team is important and part of that is us rewarding opportunity when they do that.”

After trailing by as many as 17 points, the Thunder reserves tied the game at 98. Unfortunately, the Kings outscored the Thunder, 25-19, during the remaining 8:50.

“(The bench) turned the tone of the game. I thought they gave good resistance,” Daigneault said. “They were physical. Moved the ball on offense. I thought a lot of good things happened once they were out there.”

Without De’Aaron Fox, the Kings starters stepped up in their All-Star guard’s absence as all five scored at least 13 points.

Harrison Barnes scored a quiet 29 points on 8-of-13 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. Domantas Sabonis finished with another near triple double of 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Kevin Huerter scored 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting and had nine assists.

The Kings continue to show why they’re ranked first in offensive rating as they went 43-of-82 (52.4%) from the field and 15-of-42 (35.7%) from 3.

Despite the Thunder taking 16 more shot attempts than the Kings, the extra attempts never translated to the scoreboard due to high-efficiency scoring from the latter.

The Thunder are winless since the All-Star break and have their first four-game losing streak since mid-December. With losses piling up, the Thunder are 1.5 games out of 10th place in the Western Conference.

If the Thunder want to cling onto their playoff hopes, they need Gilgeous-Alexander to return sooner rather than later.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.

Bleacher Report thinks the Thunder should go after Grant Williams in free agency

What do you think if the Thunder decided to sign RFA Grant Williams?

While there are still nearly two months left of the regular season plus however long the NBA playoffs last, it’s never too early to speculate about free agency.

Bleacher Report writer Dan Favale is a subscriber of this belief. He recently broke down all 30 teams and paired them with one free agent each should go after this summer.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are involved in a pair of these pairings — one for themselves and one that involves a current player on the roster who is set to become an unrestricted free agent.

Let’s take a look at what Favale had to say about who the Thunder should target and who an impending Thunder free agent should consider signing with.

Player grades: Thunder blow out Rockets before going on All-Star break, 133-96

Player grades for the Thunder’s 133-96 win over the Rockets.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Before Wednesday’s game, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said he of course had concerns over his team looking ahead to the All-Star break.

It’s only human nature. It provides the players their first and only extended break of the grueling nine-month season.

Well, any concerns of that leaking over to the Thunder’s game against the Houston Rockets were quickly put to rest in a 133-96 win. After being 1-5 in their previous six games against the Rockets, the Thunder have won two in a row with a 34.5-point average margin of victory.

“I was really impressed by our focus level,” Daigneault said.”That’s a tough game because of the All-Star break, and it’s a tough break because we won by a good margin the last time we played them. So a lot of dynamics that we had to overcome mentality and I thought our guys really brought it from the jump and played 48 minutes of good basketball.”

It was clear where this game was heading in the first quarter as the Thunder opened a 38-21 lead. By halftime, the Thunder led by 22 points. By the end of the third quarter, the Thunder had already scored 116 points.

The Thunder led by as many as 42 points and won by a season-high 37 points.

The Thunder went 42-of-87 (48.3%) from the field and 9-of-34 (26.5%) shooting from 3. From the free-throw line, the Thunder had a busy night as they went an absurd 40-of-47 (85.1%).

Five Thunder players finished with at least 10 points and nobody played more than 29 minutes. This was also the first time in Thunder history that 13 players scored at least four points.

The low outside shooting numbers were a little surprising — especially considering the Thunder reached the century mark before the end of three quarters. Scoring advantages of 64-38 in the paint and 24-14 on the fast-breaks will make up for poor shooting from outside.

Meanwhile, it was a rough night for the Rockets.

The Rockets went 30-of-89 (33.7%) from the field and 10-of-37 (27%) from 3. From the free-throw line, the Rockets went 26-of-38 (68.4%).

Jabari Smith Jr. has the most notable game for the Rockets. He finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Jalen Green contributed with 14 points in 16 minutes before being pulled due to a groin strain.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.

Report: Darius Bazley traded to the Suns for Dario Saric, second-round pick

Darius Bazley is on his way to Phoenix.

The Oklahoma City Thunder traded Darius Bazley to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Dario Saric and a second-round pick in a move first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

This was the most anticipated move for the Thunder heading into the trade deadline. Bazley, who is set to enter restricted free agency, has been out of the rotation for the entire season with a career-low 15.4 minutes.

The Thunder acquired a second-round pick and the expiring deal of Dario Saric, who is on a $9.2 million salary this season and will be a free agent this summer.

It’s unknown whether Saric will stay on the Thunder, but I lean that he will and will play a limited role on the team, especially if the Thunder waive Justin Jackson, who they acquired from the Boston Celtics for Mike Muscala.

In 37 games for the Suns, Saric averaged 5.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists.

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Dario Saric recalls being surprised, confused when Sixers traded him

Dario Saric recalls being surprised and confused when the Philadelphia 76ers traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Jimmy Butler.

PHILADELPHIA–Currently, Dario Saric is a member of the Phoenix Suns these days. However, before that, he began his career with the Philadelphia 76ers where he played in 172 games with 122 started over the course of three seasons.

He was a big part of the team in the 2017-18 season when he averaged 14.6 points and 6.7 rebounds as a starter next to Joel Embiid and he helped the team reach Round 2 of the playoffs. He was considered one of the top players on the team and was looking to help Philadelphia take the next step in the Eastern Conference.

13 games into his third season with the team, Philadelphia traded him along with Robert Covington to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the big Jimmy Butler trade. It was a move that had to be made, but Saric discussed his initial emotions after the deal.

Top 5 players to wear number 9 jersey in Philadelphia 76ers history

Here are the top 5 players to specifically wear the No. 9 jersey for the Philadelphia 76ers in their history.

The number 9 jersey has currently been worn by 25 players in the history of the Philadelphia 76ers. So, in fine Sixers Wire fashion, we are going to rank the top five players to ever throw on the jersey number.

The list is going to be based on what the players did while wearing the specific uniform number. These five players aren’t superstars in the purest sense, but they were solid players. One of the players on this list also did a good job of using his time in Philadelphia to work and develop and earn a spot on other teams in the league.

With that said, let’s get into this list:

Four back up big man trade targets for the Boston Celtics to use their $17.1 million traded player exception on

These are some of our favorite potential backup big man trade targets if the Celtics were to use part of their $17.1 million TPE.

The Boston Celtics were widely seen as unlikely to use their $17.1 million traded player exception (TPE) before it expires on July 17 after trading for Indiana Pacers point guard Malcolm Brogdon given the team is now roughly $20 million into the league’s luxury tax, but recent reporting from The Athletic’s Jared Weiss related that Boston isn’t done looking for ways to put it to use.

This would most likely be for a backup big man given that is the only real need on one of the deepest teams in the NBA, but with that big tax bill pending as the roster currently sits, suggests that any such move to bring in a pricier big man would likely see a rotation player like Derrick White, Grant Williams, or Payton Pritchard going out to help balance the books.

Such trades could wear out even the most ardent trade machine fans with the possibilities, so we won’t explore actual deals themselves.

2014 NBA draft rewind: Sixers acquire Dario Saric in a trade from Magic

In the 2014 draft, the Philadelphia 76ers traded for Dario Saric from the Orlando Magic.

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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