The OKC Thunder may have come away from the 2025 NBA Draft as consensus winners after scooping up a form-fitting young prospect in Thomas Sorber and a Swiss Army knife talent in Brooks Barnhizer, but the player they should be most excited about debuting during the 2025-26 campaign is not technically a newcomer at all.
After being redshirted his entire rookie year with a torn ACL, Nikola Topic finally seems ready to show off his talents while donning the blue, orange, and yellow, and fans will get a chance to see his first lick of in-game action as a member of the organization next week during NBA Summer League.
Nikola Topic will be a must-watch Thunder during NBA Summer League
A top-billed prospect, the Serbian-born point guard was tabbed as a potential number one overall option heading into the 2024 NBA Draft thanks to his size (6-foot-6) mixed with his pure floor general style of play.
Add this to his per-game production that saw him average 16.0 points, 6.4 assists, and 3.4 rebounds throughout all stops in the 2023-24 season with both Mega MIS and Crvena zvezda, and it should come as no surprise that the international wunderkind generated such buzz.
Due to his knee injury, however, Topic saw himself slide significantly on draft night, ultimately falling into Oklahoma City's lap at 12 overall and, in turn, gifting Sam Presti and company arguably the biggest steal of the 2024 festivities.
Though he may not have been able to see any actual action during his first year in the association, in practice sessions and behind closed doors the 19-year-old still managed to impress his coaching staff and peers, with Luguentz Dort specifically going on record to gush over how special of a contributor he expects Topic to be for the Thunder.
On top of this, he's coming into his *rookie season with firsthand knowledge of what it takes for a team to win a championship, as he was fully immersed in OKC's title run during the 2024-25 season. He even became the first player in history to win an NBA Championship before logging a single minute in the association.
Even without any time spent on the court, a year after being selected in the lottery, Nikola Topic is a player who has a significant amount of hype attached to his name.
The first time he'll be able to give fans a glimpse of what he's capable of in Thunder threads will come over a three-day period from July 5-8 in Salt Lake City, before heading to the Las Vegas Summer League, which is set for July 10-20.