Thunder guard's first Summer League game is bad news for West | Yardbarker

Published 1 day ago• 2 minute read

LAS VEGAS -- The Oklahoma City Thunder drafted Nikola Topic in the lottery last season despite his ACL tear. Now healthy, their rookie guard looks ready to make the defending champs even more dangerous.

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— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) July 10, 2025

Even after missing the entire 2024-25 season, Topic is still only 19 years old. He certainly didn't play like a teenager or someone just 13 months away from an ACL tear during the Thunder's Las Vegas Summer League game against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.

Topic had 18 points, six assists and four rebounds in OKC's 90-81 win, one where he thoroughly outplayed the Nets' Egor Demin, this year's No. 8 pick.

It wasn't just that Topic filled up the stat sheet. He has good size for a point guard, standing 6-foot-6. Throughout Thursday's game, Topic didn't always make his shots or finish well at the rim, but he got past the Nets defenders at will. Topic showed off a variety of drives, going baseline for a reverse layup on one play and zipping into the lane and freezing the defense for an easy seven-footer on another.

Even on defense, Topic didn't always stay in front of his man, but he got multiple deflections and one steal.

Topic also showed off a high basketball IQ, and not just in his incisive passing. He constantly passed the ball to second-year guard Ajay Mitchell, who finished with 20 points. Mitchell is the only member of the Thunder's Summer League roster who will definitely be on the team's regular-season roster, so Topic was wise to get in a teammate's good graces early.

The Thunder didn't have a lot of weaknesses in last season's title run, but one was the lack of ball handling behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The team is stocked with wings who can defend and shoot, but Topic provides dribbling and passing for a bench unit. By contrast, Demin scored eight points and had zero assists and couldn't guard Topic.

It's only one game, but Topic looked miles ahead of the No. 8 pick, which may mean that the best team in the NBA could be adding one of the year's best rookies. Topic's sunny debut might be a dark day for the Thunder's rivals.

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