The last look that Bryan Colangelo had of Dario Saric on a basketball court was in November, five months before the 76ers officially hired Colangelo as their general manager and president of basketball operations, 17 months after the Sixers had made a draft-day trade to acquire Saric from the Orlando Magic.
To Sixers fans and followers, even to some of his prospective teammates, Saric ever since has been less an athlete than an idea, an invigorating and reassuring wish that someday would take the flesh-and-blood form of a 6-foot-10 forward who could pass, shoot, and run the floor.