Report: Struggling Nuggets big Dario Saric could leave Denver

The Denver Nuggets’ disastrous signing of Dario Saric could be nearing a conclusion with one of the best European clubs interested in the Croatian big.

According to Spanish reporter Javier Maestro, Real Madrid is circling Saric as an offseason target. The 2023 EuroLeague champs led by former Nuggets guard Facundo Campazzo, fellow Coratian Mario Hezonja and standout veteran NBA player Serge Ibaka lost to Panathinaikos in the championship last season and are middling now in 2025. This past summer, Saric nearly signed with the reigning champs Panathinaikos, where former Nuggets forward Juancho Hernangomez plays.

Saric ultimately signed with the Nuggets on the taxpayer mid-level exception of 10.6 million over two years, with the second season being a player option. Saric has played in just 15 of the Nuggets’ 73 games this season, despite being listed as healthy for the entire campaign. In that, he’s only come away with a plus-minus in the positive four times. Saric was thought to be the solution to the Nuggets’ long-known issue of backing up three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. But Saric has struggled so much in his 203 minutes this season that he hasn’t played in a month, and that was just for a handful of minutes. Saric hasn’t gotten real time on the court since mid-January.

The issue with Saric has been glaring as of late since Jokic has missed five straight games, and still, the 30-year-old hasn’t been on the hardwood. Instead, the Nuggets even played 36-year-old DeAndre Jordan on back-to-back nights for the first time since 2021 when he was on the Lakers. The Nuggets have also gone smaller with Aaron Gordon playing center, Peyton Watson at the position but have more often moved Zeke Nnaji over from power forward. Saric was thought to be a guy who could both back Jokic up and play alongside him, he’s not been able to do either.

Saric averaged eight points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game for the Golden State Warriors a year ago, and that’s fallen to 3.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in his limited action for the Nuggets.

Making matters worse for Denver was how expensive it was to acquire Saric. Since the Nuggets are above the salary cap and luxury tax, they can use this one route per year to sign external players for more than minimum contract, called the mid-level-exception. Denver has used this mechanism to get Jamychal Green, Jeff Green, Bruce Brown and to re-sign Reggie Jackson the past few seasons. On the Jackson deal, Calvin Booth also handed him a player option for a second year, which was this season, and that was picked up. The Nuggets didn’t want him anymore, in part to clear a spot and salary for Saric, so they dumped Jackson to Charlotte with three second-round picks—severely hamstringing Denver’s ability to make treades.

So not only has Saric been bad, but he was expensive to get, and that has kept the Nuggets from improving in other ways. While Jackson hasn’t had a good run of it in 2024-25, there were better options than Saric for the Nuggets using the same funds, like Kris Dunn—a key defender for one of the league’s best teams on that side of the ball in the Clippers.

And still, the Nuggets are due to pay Saric $5 million in 2025-26 unless he declines his option for another opportunity. If Saric picks up the money, it could make things harder for the Nuggets in keeping their core around Jokic in Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. together. More likely is that if Saric picks up the money, it will complicate the summer deals of Christian Braun and Peyton Watson, who are each due for extensions. All the while, the Nuggets would struggle to add because of the money and roster spot due to Saric.

If Real Madrid has an interest in Saric, Nuggets fans better hope he makes like this year’s EuroLeague MVP candidate Sasha Vezenkov did so last summer by declining his option with the Kings to go play for Olympiacos.