Wednesday afternoon, the OKC Thunder announced that rookie Nikola Topic had officially undergone surgery to repair his partially torn ACL.
It was a long time coming for the youngster, as he sustained the injury earlier in the year while playing with the Red Star Belgrade of the Serbian SuperLiga, the news that the operation finally came underway should certainly be exciting for Oklahoma City faithful to hear, though, per HoopsHype's Michael Scotto, one shouldn't expect to see their Euro prospect playing anytime soon.
According to the NBA Insider, while the operation has been deemed "successful," the current belief is Topic "is expected to miss the 2024-25 season as part of his rehabilitation process."
Thunder rookie Nikola Topic expected to miss season after ACL surgery
Despite the fact that Topic had sustained the ACL injury back in January, and then re-aggravated it in late April, the Thunder did not shy away from pursuing the point guard during June's NBA Draft, opting to snatch him up with their lone lottery pick at 12 overall.
Known to be a chess player while everyone else is playing checkers, from the jump GM Sam Presti seemed to be of the impression that the Serbian-born talent would be sidelined for the entirety of his rookie season, even acknowledging so during his post-draft media availability session.
In his own words, the Thunder are "comfortable" with rolling the dice on Topic based on what they've seen of his medical records.
Before medical examiners at the combine had revealed the full extent of his injury, Topic was viewed by some draft experts as a potential candidate to be selected number one overall, as he sports the skill set of a true lead guard at the professional level while boasting a build at 6-foot-7 of a modern-day wing.
A natural ball handler and savvy distributor, he would go on to average 17.9 points and 6.8 assists during his hot start with the Crvena Zvedza in Belgrade and would be named to the all-league team as a result of his play.
Nikola Topić 🤩🔴⚪️#kkcz #WeAreTheTeam pic.twitter.com/RB92VBYJaY
— KK Crvena zvezda Meridianbet (@kkcrvenazvezda) December 30, 2023
While redshirting a top prospect is never a desired scenario for an NBA team, the Thunder have had recent successes with such scenarios, as Chet Holmgren was forced to sit out the entirety of the 2022-23 campaign with a Lisfranc injury in his foot and he turned out just fine.
Not to mention, even if he does wind up making his debut with the team in 2025-26, considering he'll only be turning 19 on August 10, there could potentially be several incoming rookies from next year's class still aged older than Topic, as he's currently younger than six of the 24 McDonald's All-Americans alone heading to the collegiate level this coming season, per ESPN's Jonathan Givony.