Denver Nuggets big man Dario Saric revealed that reigning EuroLeague champions Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens showed interest in signing him during the last year.

"I think my agent can tell you better about that, but at that time, I was having an offer in Denver, and I hadn't decided yet whether I wanted to stay in the NBA or do I want to come back to Europe and have a bigger role," Saric told Cosmote TV about the 2024 offseason.

"I didn't know at that time [in summer] if I'm going to stay in the NBA or I'm going to go to Panathinaikos. I didn't know personally what I was going to do, but I know that the year before [in 2023], the assistant coach of Panathinaikos told me that Panathinaikos wanted me. We kind of had a contact.

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"The first time he told me was when we beat Turkey in the pre-Olympic Tournament," Saric said. "He kind of told me, 'We want to bring you back [to Europe],' but I signed with Golden State that year."

The 30-year-old Croatian played 64 games (nine starts) for the Warriors last season, averaging 8.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists while shooting 37.6% from beyond the arc in 17.2 minutes per game.

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This summer, Saric signed a two-year, $10.6 million contract with Denver, which includes a player option for the second year.

Meanwhile, Panathinaikos added Cedi Osman and Omer Yurtseven from the NBA in the offseason.

He was drafted with the 12th pick of the 2014 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic before being sent to Philadelphia in a draft-night trade.

Saric also brings EuroLeague experience from his time with Zagreb (2011-12) and Anadolu Efes (2014-16), where he averaged 10.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists across 55 games (43 starts).