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The Oklahoma City Thunder are entering the 2025-26 season as the defending champions. However, Nikola Topic unfortunately did not play a single game in what was a landmark season. The No. 12 pick of the 2024 NBA Draft missed his entire rookie season due to a torn ACL, and has recently returned in the NBA Summer League to give a glimpse of his potential.
The 19-year-old showed flashes of brilliance, showing off his elite playmaking skills and returning with averages of 10.8 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.2 rebounds, per NBA.com. At the same time, considerable concern may also result from his high number of turnovers, something which can still be attributed to rust.
However, as things stand, that appears to be the biggest concern related to the Serbian guard.
Nikola Topic committed plenty of turnovers during Summer League showing
Topic produced plenty of highlight-worthy moments during the six games he played in in the Summer League. His ability to score from anywhere and playmaking was best at display against the Brooklyn Nets, when he produced 18 points, six assists and four rebounds.
However, his worst display came against the Utah Jazz, where he scored seven points but committed a team-high eight turnovers. The player’s tendency to find Hollywood passes also comes with the caveat of them not landing a lot of times, something the Thunder may need to monitor closely as they attempt to introduce him to their rotation.
Further, Topic may have consistently shown the ability to spray passes all over the court. However, that came hand-in-hand with shooting splits of 33.3% oveall and a paltry 20.8% from the three-point zone.
Topic’s Summer League debut was marred by an alarming rate of turnovers throughout. In his first game, he tallied seven giveaways, and while some of that can be chalked up to rust, the player will need to improve in order to become a serious contributor in such a stacked Thunder lineup.
Further, his talent is not in doubt, and his high turnovers are also a result of his aggressive passing, which is a natural byproduct of his elite vision. What’s more, the player did seem to improve on errors as the summer league progressed, committing a total of 11 turnovers in the final three games.
Still, he has already shown enough potential to be given the same kind of support that Chet Holmgren received after missing his entire rookie season. Nikola Topic remains an elite prospect with the ability to produce assists for his teammates all over the court, and the Thunder coaching staff may have already laid out a plan for his introduction to the rotation.
Finally, Topic and the Thunder have no reason to ring the alarm bells. The NBA Summer League is a training ground for the actual season, and the coaching staff will be delighted to see that Topic not only got minutes, but also showed potential. However, as things stand, the biggest question mark from his summer league campaign remains the high number of turnovers.
