12. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Rockets)
Nikola Topic, PG, Mega MIS (Adriatic League) | Age: 18.8
Oklahoma City traded Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls for Alex Caruso last Wednesday, opening a void at backup point guard, which Topic could fill in a year's time. Topic was one of 25 players voted into the draft's green room by NBA teams, which is a good sign for his stock stabilizing in the wake of his ACL tear diagnosis at the draft combine in Treviso, Italy.
Topic has been in the U.S. visiting teams, with Portland (Nos. 7 and 14) San Antonio (No. 8), Memphis (No. 9), Utah (No. 10) being some he had scheduled to meet. A team picking him will likely need to be comfortable with the idea of a redshirt season next year with long-term thinking in mind, similar to how Chet Holmgren, Joel Embiid, Michael Porter Jr. and Blake Griffin started their NBA careers.
The Jazz might feel a degree of regret for not going more all-in on positioning themselves for draft picks the past two years and could potentially reconsider that strategy at some point. The Thunder could continue to be aggressive this week, if they so choose, with their huge stockpile of draft picks and intriguing young players that could get them virtually anywhere they want on draft night, or they could go after more veterans. -- Givony
12. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Rockets)
Nikola Topic, PG, Mega MIS (Adriatic League) | Age: 18.8
Oklahoma City traded Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls for Alex Caruso last Wednesday, opening a void at backup point guard, which Topic could fill in a year's time. Topic was one of 25 players voted into the draft's green room by NBA teams, which is a good sign for his stock stabilizing in the wake of his ACL tear diagnosis at the draft combine in Treviso, Italy.
Topic has been in the U.S. visiting teams, with Portland (Nos. 7 and 14) San Antonio (No. 8), Memphis (No. 9), Utah (No. 10) being some he had scheduled to meet. A team picking him will likely need to be comfortable with the idea of a redshirt season next year with long-term thinking in mind, similar to how Chet Holmgren, Joel Embiid, Michael Porter Jr. and Blake Griffin started their NBA careers.
The Jazz might feel a degree of regret for not going more all-in on positioning themselves for draft picks the past two years and could potentially reconsider that strategy at some point. The Thunder could continue to be aggressive this week, if they so choose, with their huge stockpile of draft picks and intriguing young players that could get them virtually anywhere they want on draft night, or they could go after more veterans. -- Givony
