The OKC Thunder have officially called Nikola Topic back up from the NBA G League and are now slated to have him available for Friday night's NBA Cup game against the LA Clippers.
Should he end up seeing action, this will serve as the point guard's debut outing here in the 2026-27 season. More notably, this will also be the first time Oklahoma City has actually needed him to produce throughout his entire three-year tenure in the association.
Ever since he was selected 12 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, Topic has been seen as a work in progress and a promising prospect with high-end upside. Fortunately, throughout this time, the Thunder were able to be extremely patient with his development, as they were flush with star power and rising young studs, allowing their rotation to run 13 men deep even without him in the fold.
This year is a completely different story, however, as the Thunder have been absolutely ravaged by injuries. As things currently stand, they find themselves down three regular starters in Jalen Williams (ankle), Chet Holmgren (knee), and Cason Wallace (shoulder), and have already ruled out five total players for their upcoming bout against Los Angeles.
If their latest outing against the Trail Blazers was any indicator, OKC is in dire need of fleshing out this hobbled roster around cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with more NBA-level talent.
With this in mind, don't be surprised to see coach Mark Daigneault rolling out Topic for some meaningful action against the Clippers as the Thunder look to snap their two-game losing streak.
Nikola Topic has flashed signs of brilliance in extended runs with Thunder
While he's yet to see serious minutes in meaningful games, and while running alongside the likes of Gilgeous-Alexander throughout his time with the Thunder, the stretches Topic has seen have actually been quite impressive.
For his career, the point guard has played a total of 10 games with OKC and sports averages of 5.2 points, 4.4 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 16.0 minutes.
At the end of last season, when he received two spot starts as coach Daigneault opted to rest up the majority of his main core ahead of the playoffs, Topic actually went off by averaging 16.0 points, 12.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 steals on 50.0 percent shooting from both beyond the arc and the field as a whole in this span.
Clearly, Topic has some serious game in him. Coming into the league, he was pegged as a legitimate option as a top-five pick had he not torn his ACL before the draft, and though they may have come in spurts, he's certainly flashed the skills that helped him build this kind of status.
Now, for the first time in his career, instead of it coming in garbage time or during throwaway games late in the season, the Thunder are hoping to have his talents help keep them afloat during these trying times early on in the 2026-27 campaign.
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