Vlatko Cancar is taking the time-tested tradition of effusive preseason praise to new extremes. Even his coach wants him to pump the breaks.
As the Nuggets officially welcomed Dario Saric to the gym this month, his new teammates beamed at the potential of his versatility. But Cancar’s prediction for him echoed loudest.
“We just have to find the right system for him here and fit him good with the second unit,” Cancar said. “Because I’m pretty sure he’s going to be the Joker of the second unit.”
Michael Malone would like to interject, respectfully.
“Well, there’s only one Nikola (Jokic). So I’d never say that we have a Nikola of the second unit unless Nikola is playing with the second unit,” the 10th-year coach said, chortling. “As a three-time MVP.”
Saric himself has reservations about the comparison. Speaking with reporters recently about the possibility of sharing the floor with Jokic, he described the pairing with a self-aware specificity: “I’m going to play off of him. … I think I have a solid IQ. He has a high IQ.”
Why the differentiation between “solid” and “high” IQs?
“I mean, he is high,” Saric said, laughing. “I can’t put myself in his conversation.”
Even if the ambition is clearly outsized, Cancar’s comment more or less captures the stylistic vision Denver has for its new backup big man. Saric might be the most important tool at Malone’s disposal off the bench this season, but his arrival in Denver has played out at a curiously low volume. He was the Nuggets’ most expensive acquisition in free agency this summer, a $10.6 million commitment over the next two seasons. The external hype just hasn’t correlated with the internal valuation.
It’s easy enough to understand why. Russell Westbrook is a more prolific and polarizing newcomer, and his status as a revered teammate seized immediate attention at training camp. Saric offers a fitting balance to that personality, making him a positive asset for team chemistry in other ways. He and Jokic are close friends, for instance. When they played for different teams, they occasionally met for dinner and hung out when Saric was in Colorado for games.
The Balkan roots of Denver’s roster have strengthened. Saric adds Croatian representation, joining Serbia (Jokic) and Slovenia (Cancar). And as that region increasingly becomes part of the Nuggets’ identity, so does its corresponding basketball dogma.
“I think in America, you have players with high IQ. But that’s how we learn to play basketball. It’s always, ‘How am I going to trick you?’” Saric said. “It’s not how I’m gonna be faster than you, how I’m gonna handle you. It’s more (focused on) how I’m gonna trick you. … That’s how we learn. I think we play more team basketball because usually, we have clubs, so (on the) clubs, all 12 guys know how to play kind of the same style, and everybody kind of fits in the team.
“But in the States, it’s more like, you have a couple of guys on the team who are gonna get the ball and go to work and that kind of stuff. So this is a little bit kind of different. But obviously, in the States, you have … one-on-one players who are just amazing, really hard to guard one-on-one. So it’s more one-on-one basketball here. It’s more, let’s say, five-on-five over there.”
How does Saric fit in the five-on-five puzzle for Denver? That’s where the enthusiasm from teammates is coming from. Malone should be able to have fun experimenting with different lineup configurations, using Saric at multiple positions to emphasize different aspects of his game.
“I think backup five, backup four, can play with Nikola at times, no doubt,” Malone said. “If we go big, play him with a guy like DeAndre Jordan. … What you love about Dario is he’s been a three-man, he’s been a four, and later in his NBA career he’s been a backup five, a small-ball five. Very skilled. Can handle it. Can pass. Can shoot. Bigger than people realize. Strong, physical. I’m excited to explore all the options that Dario will afford us.”
The most essential of those options is probably backup center, a perpetual void the Nuggets have sought to fill throughout Jokic’s prime. That isn’t Saric’s natural position, but it’s one he has grown into more with age.
The offensive fit is easy to imagine, as Cancar outlined. Saric can act as a hub, like Jokic, play-making out of the post or exploiting mismatches as a screener. If Michael Porter Jr. staggers in those lineups as a four, or with Cancar implemented, the Nuggets can try to play five-out with their second unit.
“He made things really tough on us last year. It’s hard to switch onto him if you’re small, and if a big’s on him, he can pick-and-pop, and that makes it tough too,” Christian Braun said. “He hit a lot of pick-and-pop shots (in training camp). … Just playing against him, I know how tough he is to switch onto for a smaller guy. Or even guys my size. He’s strong. He can play in the post.”
The defensive fit is trickier. Saric might struggle to guard bigger, more traditional centers, and the Nuggets could risk bleeding second chances without a reliable rebounding big. That was already a second-unit problem last season when Malone used Zeke Nnaji as a five. The hope might be that Westbrook can pick up some of the rebounding slack, and Peyton Watson can supply rim protection in those lineups. But that sacrifices shooting and spacing at the other end. Most of the options involve a give-and-take.
If Saric plays a lot of backup four, Jordan might find his way back into the rotation, as Malone hinted. That configuration would probably involve a lot of pick-and-roll between the veterans Westbrook and Jordan to get Russ rolling downhill as a creator. A stretch four would feel necessary. Saric is plenty capable of being stationed farther from the basket if he’s not part of the initial action. He was 38.1% on catch-and-shoot 3s with the Warriors last season.
His spot-up game can be a weapon in Jokic lineups, of course. But the Nuggets have also used Jokic’s deadly floater game to turn the dunker spot into a scoring haven for power forwards — a defining aspect of their championship-winning offense. That, too, Saric is open to exploring if he slots in next to Jokic while Aaron Gordon staggers.
Boston’s Jrue Holiday guards Denver’s Dario Saric during a preseason game between Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Dokoupil)
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“That’s who I am,” Saric said. “That’s what I like. Be all-around. What’s the situation? … Who’s gonna be on the court?”
His career has taken him through five teams before now, including one that reached the NBA Finals. The mileage Denver gets out of him will determine a lot about the quality of its bench after years of second-unit distress. This time, rather than depending on one specific identity for that unit, the Nuggets can at least hope that one version of it yields success. If one style doesn’t work, Saric can shape-shift, and Malone can try the next.
“I’m so excited to play with Dario — he’s a hell of a talent. So versatile,” Gordon said, piling on to Cancar’s enthusiasm. “Does a multitude of things on the floor. … I don’t think you guys understand how big of an impact he will have on this team.”
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