The Golden State Warriors faced an 11-man Sacramento Kings rotation at Chase Center on Friday night, but that didn't include former big man Dario Saric whose NBA career continues to fall apart.
Saric's impact in the league has been on the decline ever since his final months with the Warriors in 2024, yet it's gone from bad to worse this season with the Kings following his trade from the Denver Nuggets in the summer.
Dario Saric may be in his final year as an NBA player
After appearing in Sacramento's first three games of the season, Saric has played in only two (and just over 13 total minutes) since as the franchise focuses on the development of young front court players Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell.
Saric is averaging 1.0 point and 1.2 rebounds in his five games, shooting 16.7% from the floor. Even with fellow veteran big man Domantas Sabonis limited to just 11 games himself this season due to injury, Saric hasn't been able to crack the rotation, let alone any meaningful playing time.
It's a familiar tale for the Croatian after his lone year with the Denver Nuggets, having appeared in 10 of the first 15 games for the franchise, before playing only six more games in what was the first of a two-year, $10.6 million contract.
Saric unsurprisingly picked up his player option, yet the Nuggets still found a way to turn the 31-year-old into Jonas Valancuinas who, despite now dealing with injury, has been a far more effective backup for 3x MVP Nikola Jokic.
After acquiring Saric from Denver, Sacramento actually tried to send him onto Golden State in a Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade that would have also included Devin Carter and two second-round picks. Needless to say, the Warriors had no interest in such a laughable offer.
It's easy to forget though just how notable a signing Saric was when he signed a minimum contract with Golden State in the 2023 offseason. It was a coup of sorts given the Miami Heat and others held interest, with optimism on the combination of Chris Paul and Saric who had played together on a Phoenix Suns team that went to the NBA Finals in 2021.
Saric actually started quite well with the Warriors, having averaged the fourth-most points, the second-most rebounds, and holding the fourth-best plus-minus on the team in November 2023. It was all rather downhill from there though, and now there's serious question marks on his place in the league beyond this season.