So says ESPN’s Zach Lowe:
Saric is a power forward who now has to share the floor with one post-up brute (Joel Embiid) and a giant point-whatever (Ben Simmons) who can’t shoot — and lives in the paint.
That is not an easy ask, and the Sixers before the season were not sure Saric could start, or even play much with Philly’s two cornerstones. But Saric has proved a chameleon — good at so many things that he can shift from job to job depending on what each possession requires.
He’s a natural throwing entry passes to the post, and he’s shooting 38 percent from deep. Saric has (so far) made teams pay for abandoning him to double Embiid and Simmons down low. He’s a smart cutter — a must for anyone playing alongside Simmons and Embiid:
Simmons’ positional weirdness often scrambles the matchups, and when Saric finds a little guy stuck on him, he can go to work in the post. He’s a tidy 14-of-29 on shots from the block, per Synergy, and he’s one of the league’s slickest interior passers. He can dish with both hands, he sees the whole floor, and he has knack for threading tiny needles from unconventional angles:
Philly has scored 1.2 points per possession on any trip featuring a Saric post touch, 22nd among 120 guys who have posted up at least 30 times, according to Second Spectrum.
Philly’s starting lineup, outscoring opponents by a ridiculous 18 points per 100 possessions, wouldn’t work without Saric’s jack-of-all-trades game:
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22210351/zach-lowe-10-things-like-including-all-star-snubs-nba
