Dario Saric Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Chad Ford On NBA Draft

May 21st, 2014 at 6:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the draft order now set, the speculation can truly begin as to what each team will do in June’s NBA Draft. Chad Ford of ESPN.com held his weekly chat and here are some of the highlights:

Though the Cavaliers currently have Jabari Parker at the top of their draft board, Ford believes they will end up selecting Andrew Wiggins with the first overall pick.
The only way the Cavs trade the top pick is for a young, star-caliber player like Kevin Love, opines Ford.
The top three players on the Bucks draft board are Joel Embiid, Wiggins, and Dante Exum, per Ford.
The Magic are looking at taking a point guard with the number four overall pick, reports Ford. The team’s top two choices would be Exum and Marcus Smart. Ford also believes that with the 12th pick, the team will focus on acquiring outside shooting.
Ford believes the Jazz are likely to select Noah Vonleh with the fifth selection, unless they attempt to trade up to snag Exum.
Being slotted sixth makes the Celtics more likely to try and trade their pick for established talent, notes Ford. If they keep the pick, he believes that Aaron Gordon would be the choice of GM Danny Ainge.
The Lakers are in a similar position to the Celtics in regard to trading their pick, opines Ford. If they keep the pick, he sees either Julius Randle, Smart, or Dario Saric being their favorites.
Ford’s sleeper picks for the draft are Mitch McGary, Jarnell Stokes, and Elfrid Payton.

Draft Notes: Saric, Parker, Wiggins, Magic

May 10th, 2014 at 3:52pm CST by Charlie Adams

The 2014 draft is a little over a month away, and there’s no shortage of news and notes on this year’s deep class. Let’s round up the latest:

Dario Saric might be the most versatile offensive player in the 2014 draft, writes Jonathan Givony in his profile of the Croatian forward. However, Saric’s lack of a true position and perceived attitude issues might hinder his stock, says Givony.
Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com debate whether Jabari Parker should be the number one overall pick in the draft. They both think Parker would be the safe first-overall selection, but that Andrew Wiggins has a higher ceiling (Insider link).
The Magic place a high value on character, and they will utilize the pre-draft interviews to evaluate whether or not a potential draftee is compatible with their team, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (subscribers only). Orlando GM Rob Hennigan was impressed with how Victor Oladipo performed in his interview last summer, writes Robbins.

Cray Allred contributed to this post.

Dario Saric Declares For Draft

April 26th, 2014 at 1:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

APRIL 26TH, 1:24pm: Raznatovic announced that Saric has officially declared for the 2014 draft (Twitter link, hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).

APRIL 16TH, 8:29am: Dario Saric‘s new agent, Misko Raznatovic, says his client will declare for the NBA draft, as he tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Still, Raznatovic isn’t sure whether Saric will withdraw by the June 16th deadline, as he did last year, or remain in this year’s field of early entrants, suggesting that if he and Saric feel that the 6’10” forward will go within the top 10 to 14 picks, Saric won’t pull out. Saric nonetheless believes that he’ll sign with a European team and remain overseas for another year or two regardless of whether he’s drafted this year, though he hasn’t made a final decision about that, as Raznatovic explains.

Saric is No. 9 in Givony’s prospect rankings, and No. 14 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com, though Ford says he’d have Saric higher if it were clear that he’d play in the NBA next season. That seems to indicate that Saric will be drafted high enough to meet Raznatovic’s threshold for remaining in the draft, making him a likely “draft-and-stash” player. Some teams have been burned when they’ve used high draft picks on overseas players unwilling to immediately come stateside, most notably the Magic, who spent the 11th overall pick in 2005 on Fran Vazquez, who’s yet to play in the NBA. Raznatovic insists that Saric won’t go down that path.

“I really believe that after talking for five minutes with Dario, that doubt will be gone,” Raznatovic said. “He cannot wait to become a NBA player, and this is his ultimate goal. He will be in the league no later than 2016, and with good chances to start earlier.”

The agent, who announced that he’d signed with Saric last week, is the latest to dispute a report late last month that Saric had agreed to a deal with a team in Turkey that wouldn’t allow him to go to the NBA until 2016. Raznatovic suggests that his ties to Dusan Ivkovic, another client of his who’s rumored to become the next coach of the Turkish team, fueled erroneous speculation that Saric was headed to Turkey.

Saric’s professional future has been clouded with mystery in recent weeks, with back-and-forth fueled by his father and a former agent, among others. Raznatovic downplays the significance of comments from Saric’s father, who’s advocated that his son stay in Europe, saying that the elder Saric isn’t anti-NBA and is just looking out for his son’s well-being. Raznatovic promises that the instability surrounding his client is over, though I suspect there will continue to be speculation about Saric until he signs with an NBA team.

Draft Notes: Parker, Saric, Ennis, Gordon

April 17th, 2014 at 10:32am CST by Chuck Myron

There were dozens of scenarios in play for June’s draft order entering the final night of the regular season, as I outlined Wednesday, but many of them remain unresolved. Random drawings set for Friday will break the four ties shown in our Reverse Standings, while the May 20th draft lottery looms for the top of the order. Until then, here’s the latest on a handful of the top prospects:

Jabari Parker would go right to the top of the 2015 prospect rankings if he chooses to stay at Duke for his sophomore year, opines Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who answered reader questions in a chat Wednesday.
Dario Saric’s agent said the matter of whether his client will remain in the draft or withdraw will have much to do with their confidence that he’d be drafted in the top 10 or 14 picks. However, most teams would want to know for sure that he’d play in the NBA next season before committing a top-10 pick to him, as Ford writes in the same chat.
Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis is going with agent Mike George of Excel Sports Management for his representation, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
Another projected lottery pick, Arizona forward Aaron Gordon, is set to sign with BDA Sports, reports Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star (Twitter link).
Purdue sophomore A.J. Hammons will return to school rather than entering this year’s draft, the Boilermakers announced. The center is the 40th-best prospect on the list that Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress compiles, while Ford puts him 72nd.

Draft Rumors: Saric, McDaniels, Agents

April 8th, 2014 at 7:00pm CST by Cray Allred

Now that March Madness is over, buzz surrounding the 2014 NBA Draft will no longer be generated by recent performances in the spotlight, but by workouts, interviews, game film, and team needs. Here’s the latest on the draft:

Chad Ford of ESPN.com updated his Insider-only Big Board today, noting that Dario Saric would be higher than No. 14 if there were more clarity on whether he intends to play in the NBA next season. Multiple sources tell Ford that he won’t, even though he’s reportedly leaning toward declaring for the draft. That seems to suggest that Saric may enter the draft, be selected, and still sign overseas.
Several GMs tell Ford that K.J. McDaniels is the “real sleeper” in the draft, as Ford writes in the same piece.
Cory Jefferson of Baylor has signed agents Mike Silverman and Brandon Grier to represent him heading into the draft, per Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link). Jefferson is currently projected as a second round pick.
Kentucky’s Julius Randle selected agent George Bass to represent him, and Washington’s C.J. Wilcox will be represented by Aaron Mintz of Creative Artists Agency, per a tweet from Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Randle is projected as a high lottery pick; Wilcox is projected to be taken in the second round.
St. John’s Orlando Sanchez has signed with agent B.J. Bass of RBA Sports, per a tweet from Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Draft Notes: Saric, Napier, Harrison Twins

April 8th, 2014 at 11:47am CST by Chuck Myron

Connecticut finished off a surprise run to the NCAA title on Monday, and with the college basketball season in the books, the focus on the June 26th draft sharpens. Underclassmen who’ve declared for the draft have just one more week to withdraw without losing their NCAA eligibility, so decision time is drawing near for many. Here’s the latest:

Agent Misko Raznatovic of BeoBasket says he’s become the new representative for lottery prospect Dario Saric, adding that he expects to make an announcement about Saric’s future in the next couple of days (Twitter links; hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). He’ll partner with Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. A report last month indicating that Saric had agreed to a deal that would keep him in Europe prompted Carchia to tweet shortly thereafter that he expected Saric to sign with Raznatovic, but the European deal never came to fruition, and Saric said a few days ago that he’s leaning toward entering the draft.
Shabazz Napier won the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player award, but several NBA executives tell Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that they still see the point guard as a second-round pick (Sulia link).
NBA types also continue to downplay the prospects of Kentucky freshman twins Aaron Harrison and Andrew Harrison, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv details.

Kennedy Notes: Draft, Gasol, Sixers

April 4th, 2014 at 8:34pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders held his weekly chat. He touched on a number of topics, and some of the highlights are listed below:

Kennedy believes the biggest sleeper pick in the upcoming NBA Draft is Wichita State’s Cleanthony Early. He also believes the player most likely to be taken too high is Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein.
Pau Gasol is most likely done with the Lakers after this season, opines Kennedy. He cites the Lakers’ desire to have cap flexibility heading into the summer of 2015, as well as Gasol’s reluctance to be part of a rebuild.
On who the Sixers will take in the draft, Kennedy believes the team will simply select the best two players available. His draft scenario has the team selecting Andrew Wiggins and Dario Saric.
He doesn’t believe that Victor Oladipo is the long term answer for the Magic at point guard. Kennedy believes the team should look at drafting Dante Exum and keeping Oladipo at shooting guard.
Kennedy also believes the rumors that Kyrie Irving wants out of Cleveland. He opines that Irving might sign an extension and then demand a trade from the Cavs.

Dario Saric Leaning Toward Entering Draft

April 4th, 2014 at 8:41am CST by Chuck Myron

There’s been plenty of back-and-forth about whether potential top-10 pick Dario Saric will enter this year’s draft, with rumors coming from his father, an agent who no longer represents him, and unnamed sources. Saric himself spoke to Jelena Trajković of B92.net, telling her that it’s his dream to play in the NBA and that he believes he’ll go into the draft, but the Croatian star cautions that he has yet to come to a final decision (translation via Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress via Twitter).

Givony ranks Saric as the ninth-best prospect for June’s draft, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com pegs him 14th. It’s around the same range where Saric found himself last year, when he entered the draft but withdrew before the deadline to so. There have been conflicting reports about whether he’d even test the waters this time around, with Ford reporting last month that he’d agreed to a three-year deal with a Turkish team that wouldn’t allow him to go to the NBA until 2016, when he’ll be automatically draft-eligible. Givony countered that he never reached such a deal, asserting that the 6’10” forward would almost certainly enter this year’s draft.

Agent Robert Jablan publicly called for Saric to declare for the draft, but Saric’s father and Givony say Jablan no longer represents Saric. Jablan was critical of Saric’s father, who has said that he wants to see his son stay in Europe for another two seasons. Around the same time his father initially made those comments, Saric agreed that it would be best for his development to remain overseas, though he added that he’d wait to make a decision. Ford said earlier this week that Saric was still leaning against declaring for the draft, but with four days to go until his 20th birthday, it appears he’s had a change of heart. Saric seems to indicate in his latest interview that he’ll make his decision in another 10 days, so it looks like we’ll have some resolution to the saga soon.

Draft Rumors: Saric, Parker, Brown, Clarkson

April 2nd, 2014 at 5:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Jabari Parker‘s father tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that Parker is still undecided on whether to declare for the 2014 draft. “He’s undecided and we know the [NBA’s Early Entry eligibility] deadline is the 27th [of April] so if he’s going to make a decision he has to make it by that date, but right now he’s undecided,” said the elder Parker. It would be a surprise if Parker, a consensus top-three talent, didn’t come out for the draft when all is said and done. Let’s look at some more draft notes:

Chad Ford of ESPN.com, in his weekly chat, insists that Dario Saric is still leaning toward staying out of the draft, in spite of a weekend report suggesting otherwise. Ford also hears from several scouts who say Parker will stay in school, but Ford believes the Duke star will ultimately enter this year’s draft.
Oklahoma State senior Markel Brown and Missouri junior Jordan Clarkson, who’s entering the draft, are set to sign with Andy Miller’s ASM Sports agency, tweets Darren Heitner of Forbes.
NBA front office types who told their owners that there was a franchise-changing player in this year’s draft are probably nervous now, an Eastern Conference executive tells Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck, who examines the falling stock of the 2014 class.
Some of the top prospects in the 2015 class don’t seem too enthused about commissioner Adam Silver’s push for a new NBA minimum age, as they tell Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.

Cray Allred contributed to this post.

Draft Rumors: Saric, Wiggins, Exum

April 1st, 2014 at 9:00am CST by Chuck Myron

The father of lottery prospect Dario Saric reiterated to Tomislav Gabelić of 24sata that he doesn’t feel his son is ready for the NBA, suggesting that Spanish team Real Madrid is in contention to sign the 6’10” forward, as David Pick of Eurobasket.com notes (Twitter links). That lends credence to the notion that his rumored deal with Efes Pilson of Turkey never came to fruition. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress recently wrote that Dario Saric is almost certain to enter the draft, and while sources confirm to Pick that Saric is indeed draft-bound, they believe he’ll nonetheless sign with a European club, becoming a “draft-and-stash” player. There’s more on Saric amid the latest on the draft, as we detail:

The stumbling block for many European teams that would pursue Saric is that only a few of them can afford his buyout from KK Cibona, the club for which he currently plays, tweets Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. Saric’s father also confirms that agent Robert Jablan no longer represents his son, who is without an agent, Carchia notes via Twitter.
An earlier report indicated that Andrew Wiggins was expected to sign with agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, but Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com hears that Paul never recruited Wiggins. Instead, Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports and one other agency are contending for Wiggins, Haynes writes.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports lists his top 10 international prospects, with Saric right behind Australian point guard Dante Exum, who occupies the No. 1 spot.