Dario Saric expressed frustration over his stints with the Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings, saying he struggled to find rhythm in Denver after long stretches without playing and felt Sacramento’s promise of a meaningful role ultimately wasn’t honored.

After 10 seasons in the NBA and stints with seven different franchises, 31-year-old Croatian forward Dario Saric is now a free agent and targeting a potential EuroLeague return.

Sacramento Kings / Schedule

The past month has been especially turbulent for the former 12th overall pick.

On February 1, Saric was traded to the Chicago Bulls as part of a three-team deal. Just two days later, on February 3, he was moved again – this time to the Detroit Pistons in another three-team trade. By February 9, he was waived.

Speaking to Sportske Novosti, Saric didn’t hide his frustration about the NBA.

“It’s a shame when people in the NBA bring you in, tell you that you’ll get a chance and that you’ll play, and then they don’t stand by that. Things change,” Saric said. “You build your life around that story. You move your family. It would be more honest if they told you back in August: ‘We don’t want you. We’re going in a different direction.'”

He described the exhausting sequence that followed pre-season while with the Sacramento Kings.

“I flew from Sibenik [Croatian city] to San Francisco, drove two hours to Sacramento, fell asleep from jet lag, woke up at five in the morning for a medical, then went back to San Francisco and flew to Europe again. They made me go through all that,” Saric recalled. “I joined training camp after the national team on August 25, and there was just one other rookie and me. I was ready. I gave everything I had.

“I trained right after my second child was born. I didn’t want to give them any reason to cut me. But they had a different plan. I don’t know what they expected – that I was Wemby and would suddenly protect the rim and block everything? They knew who I was. That’s what’s strange at the NBA level.”

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Over the past three seasons, Saric has played for the Golden State Warriors (2023-24), Denver Nuggets (2024-25), and Sacramento Kings (2025-26).

“In Golden State, I played for a while, then I didn’t. In Denver, it didn’t really suit me,” he noted. “It’s hard to find rhythm when you don’t play for three months, and then suddenly you’re thrown in to replace Nikola Jokic against Boston. You can’t just switch it on as if nothing happened. That doesn’t work at the NBA level.”

His final NBA stop also left him disappointed.

“After all that, Sacramento told me, ‘We need you.’ But it didn’t turn out the way they said it would.”

Now without a club, Saric recently appeared for Croatia in the FIBA World Cup 2027 European Qualifiers and is weighing his next move – likely in Europe.

“I’m waiting. I don’t really know what to say,” he admitted. “Before these national team games, I didn’t even know how I would look. I wasn’t asking for a three-year deal.

“I just wanted a contract until the end of the season, with an option for one more year – to get back into rhythm, finish the season properly, and prepare for the next one. To show whether I’m right or not. So far, that hasn’t happened.”

Saric has played 498 NBA games, averaging 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds.

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