The Oklahoma City Thunder certainly have the depth to replenish their rotation and overcome the loss of talent they endured this offseason as luxury-tax and second-apron penalties closed in.
Some combination of Cason Wallace and Ajay Mitchell will be able to step into the starting lineup in Luguentz Dort's place, and Jared McCain should be able to consolidate the roles of Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins with his confident perimeter game. But the Thunder's needs don't stop there.
It became clear last season, especially when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went down for a stretch of games, that Oklahoma City needs some ball-handling insurance within their main rotation. When the offense starts to get stagnant, having a player who can operate purely as an on-ball distributor outside of their superstar point guard will be vital to the completeness of this team in 2026-27.
Nikola Topic, if he's healthy and given the opportunity to acclimate to the NBA game over the course of the season, has a real chance to be that type of player. Even though he'll be limited entering training camp, then, Oklahoma City can't necessarily afford to play things overly cautiously when it comes to Topic's true NBA debut season.
Nikola Topic deserves all the time he needs—but he also deserves a real opportunity to crack the Thunder rotation in 2026-27
This is not to say that it won't take time for Topic to find his footing at the NBA level. He missed the entirety of his rookie campaign with a torn ACL, and he was highly limited last season as he dealt with his testicular cancer diagnosis. His ability to play basketball at a high level at this point is a testament purely to his willpower and determination. His being limited in training camp after a minimally invasive back surgery in the offseason is another temporary setback, but it's one he should be able to overcome.
What's truly exciting is the level of performance we saw Topic put up during his stint in the G-League last season. Across 13 games with the Oklahoma City Blue, the second-year guard averaged 18.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 7.8 assists while knocking down 46.5% of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Training camp was going to be a highly important opportunity for Topic to carry some of that performance into the organization in his first full NBA season. If he's unable to go until the start of the regular season, that's certainly not an ideal outcome for his acclimation to the NBA game.
But the fact of the matter is that Topic truly has the potential to be the best pure ball-handler on this roster. When he's fully active, you can see just how fluid and confident his game is with the ball in his hands, and on a bench unit that's likely to feature McCain, Ajay Mitchell, and Alex Caruso, Topic could easily find himself leading a bevy of acute shooters by the end of the regular season.
Mitchell, of course, has some playmaking upside. So does first-round selection Bennett Stirtz, who played mostly with the ball in his hands during his time at the University of Iowa. If Topic isn't ready to take on a major role this season, Oklahoma City certainly has options to help keep the offense going when Gilgeous-Alexander exits the game.
But none of these pieces possess the true upside that Topic does as a primary ball-handler. This regular season for the Thunder will be about recognizing and maximizing the depth options they can carry into the playoffs as real contributors. The expectation, per se, shouldn't be that Topic will be among those players, but he should get every opportunity to prove himself as one as he enters his first full NBA season.
Even if the start to his season is slowed, then, by the lingering ailment, he deserves a true shot at rotational minutes over the course of 2026-27. It's a door the Thunder frankly can't afford to keep closed.
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