Nikola Topić was 10 years old when he was a footballer. He was a left back in Novi Sad, Serbia, his hometown. But when his best friend left the field to play basketball, Topić felt bored and lonely. He missed his friend, so he would go out on the field to play too.
This somewhat capricious and somewhat endearing decision, taken eight years ago, changed the course of Topić’s life. Today, the 18-year-old is on the brink of the abyss. NBAIn a year where the NBA Draft is more unpredictable than ever, with no consensus top-tier player, Topić is one of its most interesting prospects.
At 2.08m, he is a tall playmaker with a deft passing touch and finishing ability, and his coaches praise his high basketball IQ. He split last season between Mega Basket, where he was on loan to the Serbian club that has served as a springboard for players on their way to the NBA, and Crvena zvezda, also known as Red Star, one of Europe’s top teams, where he made his debut as a teenager.
Topić has already had in-person visits with the Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies And Utah Jazzhe said. He is widely expected to not only be a lottery pick in a few days, but also to enter the top 10. He is ranked No. 13 on The AthleticList of prospects ofalthough he entered the draft with a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Last year, Topić watched the draft on TV. Soon he will be there himself.
“It’s incredible,” Topić said.. “It’s like a dream. Watching the NBA Draft and seeing everyone else come up on stage and take pictures with Adam Silver, it’s unbelievable. It’s one of my dream things and to be able to experience it like that, it’s really unbelievable and I really want to enjoy those moments because it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
If Topić came to basketball through friendship, he followed in his family’s footsteps on the court. His father, Milenko, was a revered forward who helped the former Yugoslavia win an Olympic silver medal and gold at EuroBasket and the FIBA World Championship. Milenko Topić played and coached at Crvena Zvezda, and Nikola followed in his father’s footsteps last season. Topić considers his father a mentor. His coaches say it’s clear he was raised by a basketball coach.
But Topić has carved out a game of his own. His size is a weapon. He stood 6’5” without shoes. He has a negative wingspan of 6’5” but a standing reach of 8’6”, which ranked third among guards at this year’s NBA Draft Combine. While Topić is not an exceptional athlete, coaches have praised his intoxicating game.
“I think he has the size, which is really important, and he has that basketball athleticism,” Mega Basket head coach Marko said. Barać said: “He’s so good in the open court, he finds angles and most importantly, his basketball IQ is very high. I think he’ll adapt easily. Of course, the NBA is a different level of athleticism, different speed, everybody needs time to adapt, I think his basketball IQ is so high that he’ll be able to read the game and anticipate certain situations a few steps ahead.”
According to his coaches, Topić will be able to adapt to the NBA thanks to his competitiveness and maturity.
At Mega, Barać said, Topić broke his nose in an early-season game, then returned for the next away game against FMP Beograd, wearing a mask to cover his face and scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter to catalyze a victory. He averaged 18.4 points and 7.1 assists in 12 games with Mega in the Adriatic League with uneven shooting distributions; Topić shot 66.7 percent on 2-pointers but only 25.9 percent on 4.5 3-pointers per game.
At Red Star, head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos also praised Topić. He told the story of Topić’s encounter with the youth team, when a coach punished one of his teammates and fined him half of his daily allowance. Topić went to the coach and offered to pay instead of his teammate because he came from a wealthier family.
“He has something that makes him unique, the combination of his talent and his mentality,” Sfairopoulos said. “He’s very mature for his age. He’s 18, 19 and he looks like he’s 32 – his mentality, I mean.”
When Topić made his debut for Red Star, after his half-season on loan at Mega, he fulfilled his lifelong dream: to play for the same club as his father. He also got to play with Miloš Teodosić, who, at 1.95m tall and with his talent as a passer, was an idol for Topić. According to Sfairopoulos, the time spent alongside Teodosić was like going to school for the young point guard.
But Topić has only played four games for Red Star. He injured his knee in a closing match in January and, upon his return last month, was injured again, this time with a partial tear of his anterior cruciate ligament.
While the year leading up to the draft was tough for Topić, he believes it also had its upsides. He hopes to take some lessons from it for his NBA future.
“It kind of strengthened me,” he said. “It’s a process. It’s the worst thing that can happen to a professional athlete to not be able to play the sport and not be able to perform at a high level. I mean, it’s the worst thing, obviously. And it just showed me how strong I am physically and mentally, and how strong I can be. I think it prepared me for the future.”
(Photo: Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images)
