DJ's plan to dethrone Kings

Dejan Vasiljevic has his former club, the Sydney Kings, in his sights, declaring he wants to take them down in the Finals.

It has been a heated week for Vasiljevic, his new club the Adelaide 36ers, and the Kings, as the three parties all had roles in the 26-year-old joining Adelaide.

Sydney held Vasiljevic's NBL rights after they allowed him to chase his NBA dream earlier this year – but after he was waived by the Washington Wizards, the two-time NBL champion expressed a desire to return to the league in 36ers colours.

The Kings relinquished their rights of first refusal to enable the signing, but not before issuing a strongly worded press release slamming the process and the roles of Vasiljevic and Adelaide in making the deal happen.

"We are disappointed with how this has been handled, and another NBL team's role in this process. We originally amended the contract in good faith and completed our roster with the understanding that DJ would play internationally this season,” Sydney CEO Chris Pongrass said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DJ Vasiljevic is officially an Adelaide 36er, and he doesn&#39;t sound too impressed with how the Sydney Kings dealt with his contract release ?<a href="https://t.co/njMxUizCsR">https://t.co/njMxUizCsR</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1714484347192193034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Vasiljevic fired back at his former club on Wednesday, saying they made him and the Sixers look like the “villain”, and he's since doubled-down in an exclusive interview with Newscorp.

"I wanted to have a good personal relationship with Sydney…I gave the Kings and the city everything I had for three years,” he said.

“I had people message me from all over the world saying that release was harsh. That’s my goal now. I want to get to the semis and beat these guys.”

The Newscorp report states the Wizards told Vasiljevic he would play four pre-season games to prove his NBA worth, but he never received that opportunity, getting waived before the exhibition matches begun.

Vasiljevic is expected to make his Adelaide debut on Thursday night against the South East Melbourne Phoenix, but he will need to wait until January 11 to battle the Kings.

Read the full story >> 'Dejan Vasiljevic joined the Adelaide 36ers after he didn’t feel the “love” from Sydney'