The Oklahoma City Thunder have by far the best depth in the NBA, but such a surplus of talent leads to some tough personnel decisions.
The team has had to move on from numerous young, up-and-coming players because there wasn't enough space on the roster and minutes in the rotation to keep them around.
Unfortunately, Nikola Topic could be the next victim of this enviable depth.
The Thunder have a history of moving on from young players quickly
Depth is a big reason why the Thunder are the NBA champions. The team has thirteen or fourteen players who would legitimately be in the rotation of nearly every NBA team in the league.
Of course, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the superstar, and Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren aren't too far behind him.
Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Hartenstein, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, and Alex Caruso all played vital roles in bringing Oklahoma City their first championship, too. Even Jaylin Williams, Ajay Mitchell, and Kenrich Williams can be counted on when needed.
The excess amount of play-now talent has pushed some of the young players and their development to the side.
The Thunder have Topic coming off a redshirt rookie season, a former lottery pick in Ousmane Dieng, and 2025 draftee Thomas Sorber, who will also miss the entirety of his first year.
Fans are thrilled about what Topic will bring to the table during Oklahoma City's title defense. Dieng, meanwhile, has already been cast to the side. In fact, the Thunder didn't give Dieng a contract extension, as they did for his draft class peers in Holmgren and Jalen Williams.
That likely signals that Dieng's Thunder tenure will come to a close when his contract expires after this coming season.
Don't count out Dieng from having a productive fourth season that could force the Thunder to reevaluate his future with the team. Dieng was always viewed as a raw prospect who would take a few years of development before he would pan out.
Flashes have been limited throughout his career, but his shooting, passing, and dribbling abilities at 6-foot-9 are intriguing fits long-term for the Thunder if he shows signs of development.
Dieng plays the power forward position, which is arguably the Thunder's thinnest spot overall.
Topic, meanwhile, is one of many point guards on the roster.
The Thunder have high hopes for the Serbian guard, but he has a number of factors going against him in terms of his route to having a big role with the team, both in the short and long term.
For starters, Topic is a guard in the mold of Josh Giddey. He is a playmaker with great positional size but limited shooting potential.
The Thunder were forced to give up on this archetype and trade Giddey for Caruso before last season.
Furthermore, Topic will have long-term competition for minutes with Gilgeous-Alexander, Wallace, Caruso, and Joe because all of those established players are guards and under contract for the long run.
The Thunder have had to give up on plenty of former first-rounders early in their careers when they didn't show signs right away.
In addition to trading Giddey, Oklahoma City gave up Tre Mann, Aleksej Pokusevski, and Dillon Jones before they had a chance to prove themselves, simply because there are too many good players on the roster.
The Thunder are going to have tough roster decisions to make going forward, especially because they still have tons of future draft capital coming in. Dieng is an obvious candidate to not stick around, but there is a path to Oklahoma City moving on from Topic sooner rather than later.