What will Dario Saric's injury mean for the Phoenix Suns in the remainder of their NBA Finals matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks -- and beyond?
On Wednesday, the Suns announced that the right knee injury that forced Saric to leave Tuesday night's Game 1 in the first quarter has been diagnosed as an ACL tear. Saric had been a consistent part of Monty Williams' rotation as a backup center since the second round of the playoffs, seeing action in each of Phoenix's past 11 games as the team reached the Finals.
Losing Saric to injury will force Williams to reconfigure his bench for the remainder of the series. And unfortunately, the timing of Saric's injury means the Suns can't count on having him for the 2021-22 season either. Let's look at the implications.
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A forward most of his NBA career, the 6-foot-10 Saric settled in primarily as a center this season after playing that role last year in the bubble, helping juice Phoenix's second-unit offense with his ability to stretch the court and handle the ball on the perimeter.