By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Dario Saric with continue his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder, as they are trading Darius Bazley to the Phoenix Suns for the Croatian player and a second-round pick, Shams Charania reports.
The 28-year-old will join two European players in Oklahoma, Serbian forward Aleksej Pokusevski and French swingman Ousmane Dieng.
The Orlando Magic selected Saric as the 12th overall pick in the 2014 draft, but his rights were traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Elfrid Payton on draft night.
He started his NBA career with the Sixers in 2016, playing for two seasons in Pennsylvania, before being traded to Minnesota Timberwolves along with Jerryd Bayless, Robert Covington, and a 2022 second-round pick in exchange for Jimmy Butler and Justin Patton.
The Croatian power forward was unhappy with his bench role in Minneapolis and was traded to the Phoenix Suns on July 6, 2019, with the draft rights to Cameron Johnson for the draft rights to Jarrett Culver.
He had a solid role in Arizona before he underwent surgery on his ACL in early August 2021 and missed the entire 2021–22 season.
In the current season, he played 37 games for the Suns, averaging 14,4 minutes on the court, and 5,8 points and 3,8 rebounds.
Before the NBA, Saric played for Zrinjevac, Zagreb, Dubrava, and Cibona in his home country before joining Anadolu Efes. In 2016th, before going overseas, he entered a 50–40–90 EuroLeague club, and after his first season with Philadelphia, he was a part of the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
The trade deadline is at 21.00 CET, and before Saric’s deal, many others came through. Jae Crowder landed in Milwaukee, the Pacers waived Goga Bitadze, while Svi Mykhailiuk is on the way to Charlotte in a three-team trade.