Thunder GM Sam Presti says Nikola Topić 'made great strides' ahead of NBA Summer League
Nikola Topić didn't play a second of his rookie season with the Thunder, yet he still made NBA history.
The Serbian guard fell to the 12th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft after an ACL injury that sidelined him for OKC's run to the 2025 NBA championship, making Topić the first player in league history to win an NBA title without playing.
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Now, Topić is set to make that bit a trivia a footnote in his career with his upcoming debut in NBA Summer League. The Thunder will face the Grizzlies at 6 p.m. Saturday in its Salt Lake City Summer League opener.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti thinks the redshirt season can be a positive thing for Topić.
'We've seen this before, where somebody has a year where they can just focus on getting their feet underneath them as an NBA player, working on their body, learning the league,' Presti said during his offseason news conference June 30. 'I think he's made great strides during this period of time.'
Topić made his professional debut in 2022, at age 16. He played in Europe until the Thunder drafted him last year. While he has experience under his belt, Topić hasn't stepped on the court in over 365 days.
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'We'll see when he gets out there playing in Summer League,' Presti said. 'He hasn't played 5-on-5 with, like, scoreboard, referees, people in the stands. We've got to give him some grace on that, but certainly excited to see him and what he offers to the team.'
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SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JULY 8: Nikola Topic of the Oklahoma City Thunder sits behind the team bench during the first half against the Philadelphia 76ers during an NBA Summer League game at the Delta Center on July 8, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photographer, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement.(Photo by)
Two Thunder assistant coaches will lead the Summer League teams. Daniel Dixon will lead the team going to Salt Lake City (July 5-8), while Connor Johnson is in charge of the Las Vegas group (July 10-20).
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Thomas Sorber, who was the Thunder's first-round pick last month, is on the Summer League roster but is expected not to play while dealing with a foot injury.
Fellow rookie Brooks Barnhizer will join Topić in his Thunder debut. The Summer League, played alongside other rookies, sophomores and G-league players, will be Topić's first chance to make an impression in a game.
'We're not trying to fit him into last year's team,' Presti said. 'We're just trying to see where we are with our guys when we're back here, and then we'll go through the same process we go through every year, which is discovering the team, experimenting, looking at a lot of different options and lineups, trying to develop the collective team and how everybody can work within that.'
A key point for the Thunder's success this season was the chemistry between the players, and Presti will look to find a place for Topić's strengths in a relationship-based roster.
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'The cohesion of a team is how everybody's individual strengths can be operating kind of in unison without anybody really having to be stepped on or muted, and that's going to be different,' Presti said. 'I've used the mixing board example in the past. I really like that one. But in order for somebody to be turned up a little bit, it might be that somebody needs to turn down. Not out.
'We've seen that through the year, that in order to integrate or bring different people into the fold because they're able to contribute a certain level, in order to have everyone playing well at the same time, there needs to be cohesion, and part of that is figuring out how we pull back in an area or maybe play a different lineup so we can get the best of somebody at a certain point in the game.'
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Thunder 2025 NBA Summer League schedule
All times Central
Salt Lake City Summer League
Saturday, July 5: OKC vs. Memphis at 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
Monday, July 7: OKC vs. Philadelphia at 6 p.m. (ESPN)
Tuesday, July 8: OKC vs. Utah at 8 p.m. (NBA TV)
Las Vegas Summer League
Thursday, July 10: OKC vs. Brooklyn at 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday, July 12: OKC vs. Indiana at 4:30 p.m. (NBA TV)
Tuesday, July 15: OKC vs. Orlando at 5:30 p.m. (NBA TV)
Wednesday, July 16: OKC vs. New Orleans at 8:30 p.m. (NBA TV)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Nikola Topić 'made great strides' for Thunder before NBA Summer League
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