In a few days, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Nikola Topic will make his debut for the team in the Salt Lake City Summer League.
Drafted 12th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, Topic was previously considered one of the top talents in the class before suffering a knee injury in the EuroLeague. His draft stock then fell, leaving him there for the ever-patient Thunder in the late lottery.
Over the course of last season, Topic rehabbed, but Thunder general manager Sam Presti confirmed during his end-of-season press briefing earlier in the week that the Serbian guard would be a Summer League candidate.
Even before his knee injury, Topic was a developmental pick. A 6-foot-5 true point guard, he is a capable ball handler, capable of accessing most of the court in a simple manner with a downhill scoring attack and truly elite passing.
Fresh from a championship, we have the impression that the Thunder have few holes in their squad. Their defense is all-time material, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams command the offense, and the team has enough feel as a whole to feel repeatable as champions. But Topic could fill a need for OKC next season.
With the NBA MVP on the bench, the Thunder often struggled to break down the first line of defense, without players capable of collapsing the defense at the point of attack with downhill speed and a quick first step. Topic’s fellow 2024 recruit Ajay Mitchell did it for a while, but found himself injured.
Before his knee injury, Topic had sneaky acceleration, able to outrun defenders and make pass reads with relative ease.
There’s no guarantee he’ll be able to provide those things for the Thunder in year one. But with an elite feel for the game and OKC’s track record of positive assimilation, he certainly could.
The Salt Lake City Summer League runs July 5-8, while the Las Vegas Summer League runs July 10-20. It remains to be confirmed which games Topic will play in, but expect him to get burned in both.
