Through two games played in the Salt Lake City portion of the Summer League, Nikola Topic has undoubtedly been a bright spot in the backcourt for the OKC Thunder.
In 26.5 minutes per contest, the Serbian-born baller has showcased the high-end versatility that made him such a coveted lottery pick back in the 2024 NBA Draft, as he's boasting solid, all-around averages of 12.5 points, 4.5 assists, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.5 steals.
Without question, Topic has proven himself to have been well worth the wait of his red-shirt rookie season.
Yet, while he's certainly impressed through this point and is widely believed to be a future staple within the Thunder's backcourt rotation, throughout these first couple of summertime exhibitions, it's becoming increasingly apparent that sophomore Ajay Mitchell may, in fact, still be the best option to have spelling Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the depth chart as the team's one guard in 2025-26.
Ajay Mitchell performing like top backup point guard option for Thunder
One of the biggest surprises of last year's draft, Mitchell carved out a rather prominent spot within coach Mark Daigneault's rotation early on in the campaign, averaging 16.6 minutes through the first three months of action.
Even after his 46-game, injury-induced hiatus in the middle of the season, he was thrust right back into his high-usage role, seeing roughly 18.0 minutes a night to close out the season while registering multiple double-digit outings throughout the Thunder's title run this past postseason.
Of course, during his rookie year, Mitchell primarily served as an off-ball option on offense, mainly taking part in catch-and-shoot opportunities (62.0 effective field goal percentage), and a defensive specialist who ranked first in defensive rating (100.2) among his fellow rookies who logged over 30 games played.
However, through these first two games of the Summer League, it's evident that Oklahoma City is testing him out as a lead floor general option within their scheme, and, by the looks of it, he's passing with flying colors.
Playing around 26.0 minutes a night, Mitchell is clearly the engine of the Thunder offense, tossing full-court dimes to teammates and knifing through the defense for clean scoring looks of his own, while posting impressive averages of 20.0 points, 4.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks on 44.8 percent shooting from the floor and 40.0 percent shooting from deep along the way.
His ball handling has seemingly taken a massive step forward in its development, showing off his on-a-string abilities, and he consistently keeps his head up and eyes open in search of dishing to an open man.
In other words, the 23-year-old is playing like a natural point guard in his second Salt Lake City games, and if he keeps up this level of play, he could easily be tasked with serving as the primary point guard behind SGA in 2025-26.
The Thunder have already rewarded him with a new, long-term contract. Perhaps a promotion within the rotation as the reigning MVP's undisputed understudy is in the cards as well, even with the addition of Nikola Topic.