Croatian forward Dario Saric will withdraw his name from the 2013 NBA Draft, his agent Marc Cornstein told ESPN.com on Sunday.

Saric has signed his letter of withdrawal from the draft and Cornstein will deliver it to the NBA on Monday, the deadline for players to withdraw from the draft.

Saric was ranked at No. 11 on our Big Board and was widely regarded as a lottery pick by many NBA GMs and scouts. Saric was under serious consideration from the New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, Philadelphia 76ers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks.

In recent weeks Donnie Nelson, GM of the Mavs, and Dell Demps, GM of the Pelicans, flew to Croatia to see Saric play.

Despite the interest, Saric was concerned that he wouldn't get playing time in the NBA or would spend all of his time in the D-League.

After a rocky start to the season, Saric, just 19, became a team leader in the Croatian playoffs and led Cibona to a league title, averaging 15.7 points and 9.3 rebounds a game during the playoffs. Saric believes that with another season of experience, he'll guarantee a higher spot in the draft and a bigger role with the team that drafts him, Cornstein said.


Velika greška po meni, ovakva prilika se ne propušta.

Interesting: One team in the lottery just told me they DID promise to draft Saric if he'd guarantee he'd play in NBA nxt year. Saric said no