THE Oklahoma City Thunder enter the 2025-26 season as defending champions. However, Nikola Topic unfortunately did not play a single match during this landmark season.. The No. 12 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft missed his entire rookie season due to a torn ACL, and recently returned to the NBA Summer League to give a glimpse of its potential.
The 19-year-old showed flashes of brilliance, demonstrating his elite playmaking skills and returning with averages of 10.8 points, 5.8 assists and 3.2 reboundsaccording to NBA.com. At the same time, there may also be serious concerns about his high number of turnovers, which can still be attributed to rust.
However, as things stand, this appears to be the biggest concern related to the Serbian Guard.
Nikola Topic Committed Many Turnovers During Summer League Performance
Topic produced plenty of standout moments in the six games he played in Summer League. His ability to score from anywhere and create a play was best against the Brooklyn Nets, when he produced 18 points, six assists and four rebounds.
However, his worst performance came against the Utah Jazz, where he scored seven points but committed a team-high eight turnovers. The player’s tendency to find Hollywood passes also comes with a caveat: They don’t land often, something the Thunder may need to monitor closely when trying to introduce him into their rotation.
Additionally, Topic may have consistently shown the ability to spread passes all over the field. However, this came with a shooting split of 33.3% overall and a paltry 20.8% from the three-point area.
Topic’s Summer League debut was marred by an alarming rate of turnovers throughout. In his first game, he collected seven freebies, and while some of those can be attributed to rust, the player will need to improve in order to become a serious contributor in such a stacked Thunder lineup.
Additionally, his talent is beyond doubt, and his high turnovers are also a result of his aggressive passing, which is a natural byproduct of his elite vision. Additionally, the player seemed to improve on his mistakes as Summer League progressed, committing a total of 11 turnovers in the last three games.
Still, he’s already shown enough potential to receive the same type of support Chet Holmgren received after missing his entire rookie season. Nikola Topic remains an elite prospect with the ability to produce assists for his teammates all over the court, and the Thunder coaching staff may already have a plan in place for his introduction into the rotation.
Finally, Topic and the Thunder have no reason to sound the alarm. The NBA Summer League is a training ground for the season proper, and the coaching staff will be pleased to see that Topic has not only gotten minutes, but also shown potential. However, as things stand, the biggest question mark in his Summer League campaign remains the high number of turnovers.
