Despite bringing back nearly every player from the championship-winning team, the Thunder will add a former first-rounder ready for his prime minutes.
Nikola Topic, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 2024 first-round draft pick, will attend his first training camp this month, returning from a partially torn ACL in his left knee he suffered nearly a year and a half ago.
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Topic is ready to rejoin the on-court team he won a championship with last season, but he said he’s ready to finally get to work as a member of the Thunder.
“Everyone has something to say and advice to give,” Topic said. “I’m excited to get to know them and try to improve them and just try to help my team get as many wins as possible…
“Just to be a part of the team now, it’s amazing.”
Topic has had a long road to where he is now – ready to contribute to a championship-winning team.
Topic injured his knee last May and sat out the entire 2024-25 season because of it. However, he said he learned a lot from sitting throughout last season and it would have been more fun if he had been on the field for the win.
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“It was amazing to be a part of that, but it would probably be even better if I played,” Topic said. “It was an incredible experience and (I can take it away) just to stay positive, believe in ourselves, believe in the team and trust.”
Topic’s teammates, including veteran guard Alex Caruso, guided him through what was a long season for Topic, even if it ended in a ring.
Caruso said Topic can learn a lot from missing a season, even if it’s learning how to be a pro.
“I think the great thing about him is that it’s kind of a blessing in disguise,” Caruso said. “You get hurt like that at such a young age because you kind of learn the discipline of being a professional through that ordeal. Just to be able to come back from an injury of that nature, it takes a lot of discipline, it takes a lot of focus.
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“So I think that part is ingrained in him and will be great. Just give him confidence and try to help him learn through the fire. That’s really what it is.”
Topic began his basketball activities in early 2025 and stepped up to play in the NBA Summer League – where he dominated.
Topic played six games in Summer League, averaging 19.8 points, 5.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game, shooting 46.9% from the field. Throughout his short playing time, Topic displayed his dominant presence on the ball as a guard and showed his playmaking abilities that led him to be drafted so high.
Topic is a 6-foot-6 point guard who can do everything on the court, which is why many Thunder fans are excited about Topic’s future development.
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Topic said he learned a lot through Summer League, both on and off the field.
“It’s done a lot of good things,” Topic said. “Just playing the game that I love was pretty amazing. It was weird at first. It was like, ‘What do I do now?’ Am I sleeping? Am I eating? When do I do things? Do I take a nap?” But later it was better and I think it will only get better.
Even though Topic is one of the youngest and inexperienced players on the Thunder roster, he mentors OKC’s newest member.
Thomas Sorber, the Thunder’s first-round pick this season, tore the ACL in his right knee this summer and will miss the entire upcoming season, just like Topic did last season.
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Topic said he gave Sorber advice on how to handle the upcoming season and reflected on some of his circumstances last year.
“I obviously gave him some encouraging stuff and we’ll talk about it later,” Topic said. “I told him it would be the 40th game of the season and you’d be like, ‘When will I be back?’ It’s too boring now to be away, but you will get there, you just need to find someone to talk to, like friends, family, whoever it is, it will make life easier.
Where does Topic fit into a team that won the championship and brought back the majority of the roster?
Time will tell, Thunder general manager Sam Presti said.
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Presti said it will depend on where Topic is as he enters camp and where he can find his way with the clean slate the Thunder begin the season with.
“We look at every year as a blank canvas, and if we hadn’t, we wouldn’t have discovered or understood a lot of different ways to win,” Presti said. “So as far as Topic is concerned, we just have to see where he is, how the team performs, where the combinations are and not overreact when things don’t happen immediately, with any player.”
