The Oklahoma City Thunder Nikola theme selected with the No. 12 pick in the 2024 NBA draft. That selection was the only official pick at the time Presti spoke to local media, so the executive couldn’t discuss Weber State product Dillon Jones, on whom the Thunder used the No. 26 pick after make an exchange with the New York Knicks.
Oklahoma City made the choice knowing the 18-year-old guard would need a redshirt a year after suffering a partially torn ACL just weeks ago.
“We’ve seen everything we imagined. Everything we’ve seen, we’re comfortable with,” Presti said, citing the organization’s handling of Chet Holmgren’s rookie season as a confidence boost to maximize Topic’s bye year.
“He’s extraordinarily mature,” Presti said in praising Topic Wednesday night after the lottery selection.
The Oklahoma City Thunder general manager said Topic will be with the team immediately and will begin to integrate into the roster despite his injury.
Topic hails from Serbia, where the Thunder have seen connections to former players such as Aleksej Pokusevski and Vasilije Micic. The 30-year-old Euroleague MVP was asked about what Topic is going through as a young player suffering from Presti’s injury, as revealed by the general manager.
Ultimately, the 18-year-old Serbian fits the Thunder mold perfectly with extremely high potential for progression, as Presti illustrated on Wednesday.
“A high level of offensive processing, a high level of skill in terms of vision and passing, combined with great players. Players who can handle the ball, make decisions with the ball and are interchangeable. That’s something we value in players… Some of the things we’re able to add to the team tonight in general are consistent with things we’ve been trying to focus on for a number of years now,” Presti said.
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