OKC Thunder: Which Rotation Could See Nikola Topic Shine?

Nikola Topic, the Oklahoma City Thunder's No. 12 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, has now completed his first NBA Summer League following his one-year-plus long recovery from his torn ACL—an injury that was known by general manager Sam Presti on draft night.

Topic saw the year go by, similar to how Chet Holmgren did as he was sidelined for the entirety of what would have been his rookie season as well, but Topic saw it in a much, much different fashion. An NBA championship fashion, if you will. It's set the foundation, and with Oklahoma City's top pick in 2024 not even seeing the floor for its title-winning lineup, the Thunder has a lot to look forward to in the 19-year-old point guard from Serbia.

That was evident across Oklahoma City's summer league performance, where Topic showed flashes of what he could bring to the Thunder at the highest level of basketball, not just summer league. Though it wasn't all clean cut, precise and error-free play—which makes sense, he hasn't competed in competitive basketball since his tear, along with him being just 19 years old—but he did showcase some of his strengths, and they could certainly bode well for Oklahoma City this upcoming season.

An 18-point, six-assist, four-rebound performance against the Brooklyn Nets saw him as a bonafide playmaker across all the teams at summer league in Las Vegas. He showcased he can make things happen, and that could translate up to the actual Thunder lineup in due time and with experience.

For Topic and Oklahoma City to get the most out of his game, he'll need to be efficient, and he'll need to be set up with weapons around him who can knock down open jumpers, navigate to open floor space, slash effectively and know how to work around a true playmaker. This shouldn't be an issue for a team who is defending a championship and hasn't lost a speck of its roster—and of course, these guys complement one of the best playmakers in the league in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Paired with players like Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins and Jalen Williams on the perimeter would be heavenly for a newbie coming into a new situation—having tough, intelligent slashers who can also hit the trey ball whenever called upon. As for the bigs, you can't go wrong in choosing Chet Holmgren or Isaiah Hartenstein to accompany Topic in a pick-and-roll, where the guard can do some damage in feeding his big men down low.

Topic will need to find solace in certain players to get him up to speed and feel comfortable at this level, but he'll also need to have a well-rounded approach to mend well with the rest of his teammates. He'll have an uphill battle, but that'll be alleviated quite a bit with the caliber of players his teammates are.