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Dario Saric accepts shift to small forward

Dario Saric gets it. The 76ers rookie knows that his best position is power forward. However, he'll have to play small forward in certain situations to get playing time.

Dario Saric gets it.

The 76ers rookie knows that his best position is power forward. However, he'll have to play small forward in certain situations to get playing time.

That's because center Nerlens Noel, who has been out with a sprained left ankle, is expected to return Friday against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Sixers expect to pair him with Joel Embiid or Jahlil Okafor in the frontcourt in some situations. Embiid and Okafor started together Wednesday against Toronto.

There's also a fourth center in Richaun Holmes, and power forward Ersan Ilyasova is playing exceptionally well.

So Saric was sometimes forced to line up at small forward in the three games leading up to Wednesday's contest. On Tuesday, coach Brett Brown said the 6-foot-10, 240-pounder would play "almost exclusively" at the position once Noel comes back.

"I feel OK," Saric said of the position switch after Wednesday's shootaround. "Of course, I will need some time, you know, to adjust to the new position, to guard different types of players, players who play more with the ball. [They are] players who are downhill, attack-minded."

He said that guarding small forwards would be the toughest part of the position switch. Saric is aware that he'll make mistakes until he has adjusted.

Saric could have an advantage on the offensive end, however, backing down smaller defenders.

"The offense I think, is my way to . . . punish [them] because they are smaller than me," he said.

D-League trade

The Sixers' NBA Development League team, the Delaware 87ers, acquired Devondrick Walker from the Westchester Knicks in a trade for guard Von Wafer. Walker averaged 10.1 points this season for Westchester.