It has been a long journey for the Oklahoma City Thunder to get guard Nikola Topic. During the 2024 NBA Draft process, Topic was thought to be a top five prospect in that class. Though, just as the draft cycle was winding down and the selections were about to be made, the jumbo point guard suffered a torn ACL.
This caused Topic’s stock to take a hit, allowing the Oklahoma City Thunder to swoop in and grab the playmaker with the No. 12 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft with the understanding he would be sidelined for the entire 2024-25 campaign. A year in which the Thunder won the title. Oklahoma City is familiar with redshirt years for first-year players, with even on this roster, Chet Holmgren having bounced back from missing his first campaign, and now Thomas Sorber doing the exact same thing.
Topic returned to the NBA hardwood during Summer League this past July, then played at a high level against the Charlotte Hornets in the Thunder’s preseason opener. Following that contest, Topic had a testicular procedure where it was found out that he was dealing with Testicular Cancer as Sam Presti later announced.
After clearing cancer treatments, Topic returned to the floor and went through a ramp up process that started around the turn of the new year once he completed chemotherapy and this week was assigned to the OKC Blue, the Thunder’s G League affiliate, where he made his on court debut against the Skyforce this week.
“Great accomplishment. Can’t say enough about him as a guy. His mental toughness, maturity, resilience. To think of where he’s been. He sat out with an ACL last year. He hasn’t played a lot of basketball in the last two years,” Daigneault said of Topic’s debut. “He comes off a one-year rehab and immediately has a very surprising diagnosis and goes through three rounds of chemotherapy. For him to work himself back on the court is just an unbelievable accomplishment.”
Sep 29, 2025; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Nikola Topic (44) poses for a photo during the 2025 Oklahoma City Thunder media day at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
OKC Thunder Rookie Nikola Topic was impressive during his two game NBA G League Debut
Topic played in both ends of the Blue-Skyforce back-to-back set, a clean sweep for Oklahoma City picking up a pair of wins in part thanks to the rookie guard.
In game one, the prospect logged 16 minutes while dishing out seven assists, pouring in seven points and grabbing a rebound as he shot 3-for-5 from the floor and 1-for-2 from beyond the arc.
“It was awesome. For him, there was probably a ton of emotions he was going through,” Dixon detailed after Topic’s debut on Monday. “Having something taken away from you that you love from a young age can’t be easy.”
The players on the floor were familir to Topic, sharing the court with Thunder two-way wing Brooks Barnhizer, Chris Youngblood and Viktor Lakhin who all three played with the point guard in Summer League.
Barnhizer has become close with Topic since that Summer League and the rookie was able to shed light on the return to play protocol he has seen the 20-year-old endure.
“It was awesome. It has been cool because I have been around Top a lot with just Summer League, being young guys, kinda the last couple of weeks just ramping up with workouts and stuff. It is just so cool to see not only was he able to kinda go out there and be him, but the attitude towards it. You could tell he was very excited to play basketball and it just rubbed off on the guys tonight, everyone was excited to play basketball with him…He is just an all around great kid,” Two-way swingman Brooks Barnhizer explained.
In game two, Topic took a massive step not only being able to complete a back-to-back set but logging a career-high 20 minutes, 22 points, two rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block while shooting 7-for-12 from the floor, 4-for-7 from downtown and 2-for-3 at the charity stripe.
His playmaking chops really shined as he read the floor really well in a high-paced environment given the tempo that the G League is played at. His ability to create his own 3 point attempts was also encouraging to see and something that was a question mark for him as a prospect.
The future plan for Topic has yet to be seen, Blue bench boss Daniel Dixon opted not to reveal the path forward for the point guard following Monday’s game, but this is a great step for the youngster.