Ersan Ilyasova Working Out Perfectly as Mentor to Dario Saric

When the Philadelphia 76ers traded for Ersan Ilyasova, it was noted that he could make a good mentor for Dario Saric. That narrative is playing out well.

The Philadelphia 76ers traded Jerami Grant for Ersan Ilyasova earlier this year, and around the league it was looked at as a trade that the Sixers won big-time. The Oklahoma City Thunder weren’t using Ilyasova very much, so they didn’t lose a whole lot, but as far as furthering their team in both on-court ways and off-court ways, the Sixers definitely benefited greatly.

Ilyasova is a player that has demonstrated a lot. He has shown that he can be a good player on the floor, getting involved in many different ways. Ilyasova isn’t a player that is rigid and can only fit with a specific group of players, he can fit with just about anyone else he’s paired with on the floor.

But aside from his on-court benefits, one of the biggest things that was talked about when he was traded for was how much he was going to be able to help Sixers rookie international draft-and-stash player Dario Saric. Saric was drafted in 2014 but spent two seasons after that playing in Turkey for the Anadolu Efes in order to fine-tune his skill set before joining the Sixers.

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Saric struggled in his first few games, and admitted — and really made some great points — that he was having trouble because the American game of basketball is a bit different than the European game. He said it would take him some time to adjust.

Ilyasova can really help Saric in that realm because he has gone through that transition of European and American basketball, and has done it more than once. Ilyasova got his basketball start in Turkey, and after coming to the NBA went back to Spain for two years as well. At one point, during the NBA lockout, he also played for the same team that Saric would later play for in Istanbul.

So it’s clear that Saric could latch onto Ilyasova and get some advice for him on transitioning to the NBA. It’s just a matter of whether or not Saric would take advantage of those connections. On Monday after Sixers practice, it was made clear that he was:

While Saric and Ilyasova may not be the best of friends on the team, it’s clear that the similarities they share have brought them together. Them shooting together is not something that is ground-breaking and certainly doesn’t prove that they are best friends, but there’s the hope that this is not an isolated incident.

Ilyasova is one of the only players in the NBA that can relate to Saric in all of the ways that he does. For the Sixers to bring him in is innovative, and helps them off the court more than most people realize.