By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Dario Saric met with Eurohoops during the Beobasket Stars celebration and spoke with him about his ambitions with Anadolu Efes and his NBA future, since he feels ready for the jump.
Despite the possible intentions of the Sixers to lure him this summer in the NBA, that just couldn’t be possible. Anadolu Efes is one of the richest clubs in Europe, his contract didn’t include an opt out clause – contrary it has for the summer of 2016 – and also Saric, after his first season in the Turkish team, wants to win a title, before leaving for the States.
As he said Efes‘ goal is at least reaching the Euroleague Final Four: “More good players will came for next season, the team already signed two or three, and for sure we will have a roster capable of reaching the Final Four. I think we are already among the best teams in Europe, we were part of the top8 and we had a very close playoffs series against Real Madrid. Ok, not on the road, but at home our defeats were close calls. We just need two or three more players in order to make the next step”.
On the centre of the Beobasket celebration was one of the Euroleague icons, Vasilis Spanoulis, who notoriously decided to leave the NBA and the Rockets in order to return to Europe. Saric understands that in some cases things are not pretty in the States, but as he explains he feels that he can have a career with the Sixers: “I want to work every day and we will see what happens. Spanoulis tried, but he didn’t fit there. He was on the court for maybe 10 minutes, but he is a guy who needs the ball in his hands, he needs to stay on the court for 30 minutes. On the other hand you have an example like Nowitzki who has been in the NBA since he was 18 years old and he became a mega star. You have Drazen Petrovic… You have Tony Kukoc. There are now many Europeans in the league and every one is a different case”.
After all, he has the confidence that he can do succeed in the NBA, as he already feels mature enough for the best league in the world: “I am ready for the NBA. For sure I have to work on some things, but I am ready. However, I want to win some trophies with Efes next season”.