Dario Saric Wanted to Play for the Sixers This Coming Season

A few weeks ago, reports floated around that the Sixers were trying to negotiate a buyout of Dario Saric’s contract with Anadolu Efes in Europe. Ultimately, that failed and Saric would be playing professional basketball in Europe for the foreseeable future. And, for some, raised their fear that Saric probably would never come overseas to play for the Sixers given the reputation the team and front office have been getting the last few years.

Well, some of those fears may be quelled now, because according to a report from BasketballInsiders.com, Saric wanted to come over to the States for the upcoming season to play for the Sixers.

“Saric told people he wanted to join Philadelphia now, but couldn’t because his contract had no out-clause,” a source told Basketball Insiders.

Despite the Sixers’ late push to bring him over as soon as possible, negotiations with Turkish finalist Anadolu Efes failed to materialize. Saric is handcuffed overseas until 2016, but it was clear, sources familiar with his wishes said, that he wanted to join Philadelphia.

I asked Saric for his thoughts about moving to the U.S. and the situation with his Turkish club.

“It’s really hard for me to answer that,” Saric said. “I can’t comment.”

“I think I’m ready to compete in the NBA, against the best players, but we built a great team in Efes and I want to help the club win a championship.”

Excellent.