Following a year-long, injury-induced hiatus from in-game action, Nikola Topic found himself making his return to the hardwood by suiting up for the OKC Thunder in this year's NBA Summer League.
Despite the long gap in play, the point guard showed everyone why he was such a highly touted prospect upon coming into the 2024 draft.
Though certainly showing signs of rust, especially in the shooting department where he cashed in on just 34.8 percent of his attempts from the floor, Topic played admirably in all six of his outings across both the Salt Lake City and Las Vegas-based exhibitions.
While his ability to cut through a defense with his inside-oriented scoring approach (averaged 10.8 points) and knack for stepping into passing lanes (1.8 steals per game) were certainly impressive, easily his most stand-out quality was his distribution game.
From pick-and-roll sets to full-court dimes on fastbreaks, Topic was displaying truly elite passing abilities and, ultimately, wrapped up his Sin City portion of play by averaging 7.3 assists per game, which tied for the most alongside Indiana's RayJ Dennis.
Now, though Summer League may have already concluded, the 19-year-old still has a golden opportunity to continue honing his skills with in-game action this offseason, as he's slated to join the roster of his home country, Serbia, and take part in FIBA EuroBasket 2025.
Excitingly enough, considering who he'll be teaming up with, there seems to be a real opportunity for him to make his X-factor passing abilities even more dangerous.
Thunder guard Nikola Topic playing with Nikola Jokic could benefit game
With tip-off to the illustrious games coming later this month, FIBA Basketball recently released the rosters for each country participating in the festivities, and even highlighted the specific NBA players who will be playing.
Serbia has the second-most NBA players gracing their roster with five, behind only France's six, with Topic joining forces with Bogdan Bogdanovic, Nikola Jokic, Nikola Jovic, and Tristan Vukcevic.
Perhaps most exciting about his involvement in the tournament is the potential benefits that may come with working with the three-time MVP and 2024 Finals MVP in Jokic, specifically when it comes to the wonders it may do to his already stand-out passing game.
One of the best set-up men the sport has to offer, in each of the last three seasons, the behemoth star has finished within the top-five in assists per game, even dropping as many as 10.2 on average this past year.
Working alongside and learning from Jokic could truly do wonders for the incoming rookie.
Even Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein has publicly credited the short amount of time he spent with the big man during his four-month tenure with the Nuggets back during the 2020-21 season as being a major reason why he was able to develop into such a difference-making passer.
During these FIBA EuroBasket games, perhaps it'll now be Topic's turn to catch a few lessons on the wonders of elite distributing and, as a result, bring what he learns back to this Oklahoma City squad that, last season, ranked a middling 12 in assists.