The OKC Thunder proved to be quite a busy team this offseason as they aimed to follow a particular roster reshuffling and rotation-bolstering agenda.
From their signing of highly-touted big Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency to address their lacking size and physicality within the frontcourt to the addition of Alex Caruso via trade with the Chicago Bulls to improve their backcourt's 3-and-D depth, Sam Presti and company made a number of lower-key yet potentially incredibly impactful moves this summer to better Oklahoma City's odds of contention.
However, even with these aforementioned moves, and the several others the front office executed, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report seems to be singing the franchise's praises for another decision they made this summer, as he's gone about and pegged the selection of Nikola Topic in this past June's NBA Draft as one of the most notable "low-key huge wins" in the NBA.
Thunder selection of Nikola Topic tabbed as league's 'low-key huge wins'
The Serbian-born baller was snatched up 12 overall by the Thunder despite being seen as a top-five prospect in the class of 2024, and, had it not been for his partially torn ACL, some analysts saw Topic as a contender to be taken with the number one pick on the night.
Prior to his knee ailment, the 19-year-old was off to a hot start with the Crvena Zvedza in Belgrade, as he was showcasing his natural ball-handling abilities while averaging 17.9 points and 6.8 assists on a nightly basis.
Possessing the skill set of a true lead guard at the professional level while boasting the build of a modern-day wing at 6-foot-7, Topic is a type of highly versatile and positionless talent that OKC seems to adore rostering.
The unfortunate thing about the point guard's addition to the team is that they likely won't be able to reap any of the potential benefits he provides on the hardwood for another year, as current projections are he'll miss the entirety of 2024-25 while recovering from knee surgery back in late July.
That said, as Swartz correctly pointed out, if it weren't for this caveat, and Topic was to have been eligible to play this coming campaign, the Thunder likely wouldn't have been able to attain his services at 12 overall in the first place. Fortunately for them, however, "most franchises don't have the patience to use a lottery pick on a player who's likely to miss his entire rookie season."
As far as this kind of trajectory is concerned, Oklahoma City is quite familiar with having a top-ranked rookie be red-shirted due to injury during their first season in the NBA, as they did so with Chet Holmgren back in 2022-23 -- we all know how that's managed to pan out.
Considering their loss of primary distributor and offensive set-up artist Josh Giddey this summer (sent to Chicago in the Caruso deal), along with the fact that the club's payroll is only expected to increase exponentially over the coming years what with the looming contract extensions of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Holmgren, adding on a promising young floor general talent like Topic on a team-friendly, rookie-scale deal seems to be quite strategic for a number of reasons.
Because of this, Swartz, along with a plethora of Thunder fans and mere spectators alike, sees the addition of their latest lottery pick as "another brilliant move" made by the franchise "that will only look better with time."