After days of waiting with bated breath, Denver Nuggets fans can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Nuggets are signing Croatian big man Dario Šarić to a two-year contract.
Free agent F Dario Saric has agreed on a two-year, $10.6 million deal with the Denver Nuggets, sources tell ESPN. Deal includes player option on second-year. pic.twitter.com/kHfy7KAv45
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2024
The Nuggets had very limited resources in free agency this offseason whether Kentavious Caldwell-Pope stayed or left. Even after KCP departed, the Nuggets only had their Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception as a defined resource to add free agents on the open market, outside of minimum contracts.
After a few days, the Nuggets decided to use that TP-MLE on Šarić, a versatile big man on the offensive end with notable defensive weaknesses. Šarić, 30, most recently played for the Golden State Warriors, averaging 17.2 minutes per game as primarily a bench big man. Šarić averaged 8.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game, contributing solid numbers as a passer and shooter.
Among all 48 players 6-foot-10 and taller to play 1,000+ minutes in the NBA last year, Šarić ranked 10th with 4.4 assists per 100 possessions, sixth with 8.7 3-pointers attempted per 100 possessions, and 11th with a 37.6% 3-point percentage. The Croatian big man has some clearly definable strengths that will help the Nuggets. Outside of Jokic, the Nuggets haven’t had an elite passing/shooting big man on their roster. DeMarcus Cousins is close, but Šarić has perhaps the best combination of those skills.
Of course, there are definable weaknesses too. Šarić blocked 10 shots all of last year and has 96 total blocks in his NBA career, despite playing over 10,000 career minutes. Peyton Watson racked up 88 blocks coming off the bench for the Nuggets last year for comparison sake. That could impact Denver’s second unit defense, as could Šarić’s lack of perimeter mobility at this stage of his career. In addition, Šarić isn’t a strong rebounder and fouls a fair amount. The Nuggets will need to account for those weaknesses and may opt to pair him with another big man like rookie DaRon Holmes II off the bench.
Still, the Nuggets (probably) made a good move here. Denver’s bench offense in the regular season with Jokic off the floor last year was poor, averaging 107.4 points per 100 possessions in the 1,200 minutes Jokic sat. That would place Denver between the 29th ranked Portland Trail Blazers and 30th ranked Memphis Grizzlies.
Šarić will help out there. The Nuggets will need to play shooters and drivers next to him to make it happen, but it’s clear that Šarić can be the fulcrum point of a pick-and-pop bench unit and offer consistent value. He can (in theory) play next to Holmes, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. at power forward, perhaps even Jokic himself. He’s a good option to have for Michael Malone to deploy strategically.
How that translates to the playoffs is anyone’s guess, but Šarić is a veteran. He knows how to play. That’s half the battle. The Nuggets don’t need much more beyond that, and whatever Šarić can provide would benefit everyone significantly.
Welcome to the Nuggets Dario, The Homie.