Thunder point guard Nikola Topic underwent successful surgery on Wednesday to repair a torn left ACL. The surgery comes more than a month after Oklahoma City selected the Serbian point guard with the 12th overall pick, forcing Topic to miss the entire upcoming season before making his NBA debut in the 2025-26 season.
Topic’s knee issues the previous season didn’t exactly stop scouts from taking him in the top 10 and top 5 on draft night, but his partially torn ACL was a bit too significant for teams to overlook – outside of Sam Presti and the Thunder.
After dealing with the delayed arrival of Chet Holmgren due to a Lisfranc fracture that occurred shortly after his draft date, Presti and Oklahoma City seem comfortable with the position they are in and the pick they selected him with. By sending Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls on June 21, the team will need creativity in the backcourt for years to come. Topic will be able to provide that and more when his time comes, as the organization views him as a foundational playmaker next season.
This pause in his debut in the league isn’t all negative, as Holmgren’s situation shows. The former Gonzaga Bulldog was able to conceptualize what it’s like to be on an NBA team, the rigorous schedule and work ethic required to be productive at that level. He sat back, observed, examined what he could do to improve himself and his situation.
Topic will be able to do the same thing, and when he steps on that floor in 2025-26, he’ll have a little more perspective as a rookie compared to the incoming class.
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