The OKC Thunder may have been crowned as 2025 NBA Champions, but this is not to say they proved themselves to be a flawless team. Frankly, they were far from one.
Whether it was their middle of the pack bench scoring punch that had them rank 18 in points per game (35.1) or their lackluster long-range shooting abilities under the bright lights of the playoffs (fourth-worst mark at 33.8 percent), Oklahoma City had several areas of weakness within their game.
Of course, perhaps the biggest flaw of all was the club's inability to put forth effective offensive production with superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the sidelines, as they ranked in the 53 percentile in points per 100 possessions (114.8) and the 64 percentile in effective field goal percentage (55.4) in such sets.
This seemed to result from a lack of a facilitation game, as OKC's assists plummeted with the MVP off the court, going from a team-best 19.0 to a team-worst 9.3.
From both the eye test and on-paper statistics, without SGA, the Thunder offense clearly became stagnant, while their roster seemingly possessed no player capable of serving as a reliable on-ball engineer to give the team life.
Fortunately, as we head into 2025-26, it appears Oklahoma City may finally have a talent capable of keeping things afloat and functioning while Gilgeous-Alexander gets a breather on the sidelines, as Nikola Topic may very well prove to be exactly what coach Mark Daigneault's rotation was missing last year.
Nikola Topic has skills to keep Thunder offense functioning without SGA
Though he was redshirted for the entirety of last season while recovering from a torn ACL, his performance at this year's Summer League reminded everyone of why the 19-year-old was such a coveted prospect coming into the 2024 NBA Draft.
At 6-foot-6, Topic provides a rare combination of physicality, elite playmaking, and trusty ball-handling skills that were on full display during July's exhibitions.
In three games played during the Las Vegas games, the rookie went on to drop 11.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game, the latter of which tied Indiana's RayJ Dennis for the best mark in the league.
His ability to read the floor and make plays as an on-ball guard presence could easily have him in the running for a regular role within the rotation, and, eventually, may even have him directly spelling Gilgeous-Alexander on the depth chart.
Should this happen, there's an argument to be made that he could seriously be a candidate for some end-of-season awards, but, at the very least, his on-court attributes will prove to be a luxury for guys like Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren when it comes to them getting clean scoring opportunities.
Assuming he can establish himself as a consistent participant within the Thunder rotation this coming campaign, Topic could provide the defending champs with exactly the type of skills they were missing from the backup point guard position last season.