Report: Dario Saric plans to work out deal, fulfill promise he made with Sixers

By: Brandon Apter, managing editor

It's been three weeks since Bryan Colangelo and Brett Brown visited Dario Saric in Istanbul to determine his intentions for the 2016-17 season. No one really got an indication of whether or not Saric would commit to coming to Philadelphia or not, despite both parties agreeing it would be a good time to "make the jump".

"I think, at age 22, he's ready to make that jump. He's been playing professional basketball for a while, Coach Brown and I both expressed to him, and I think he understands that this would be a good time for him to come over for a lot of different reasons".

“I wasn’t pessimistic, I wasn’t optimistic," Colangelo said at the time. "I was somewhat neutral as to whether or not I felt he would be coming over and I still feel that way."[CSNphilly.com]

Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia reports that a Croatian news site recently spoke to Saric and through translation by Twitter user @CroSports_,  Saric indicated that he plans to work on a deal with the Sixers after his current qualifying tournament.

Everything is leading in that direction. I'm waiting for this tournament (Olympic qualifying) to end so that I can sit down and work out a deal, then head over to the USA to sign. 

"I have one more year with Efes (Turkish basketball team Anadolu Efes) and [head coach Velimir] Perasovic wants me to stay, but I gave [the Sixers] my word. My word means more than a paper.”

Saric has until July 17 to let Anadolu Efes know what his decision is. Later on Wednesday, ESPN's Marc Stein confirmed reports, saying that something could happen this month. 

Dario Saric told reporters in Europe he's headed to the Sixers; one source says his reps and Philly are working to make it happen this month

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 29, 2016