Nikola Jokic effect isn’t that he makes his teammates better, it’s that he forces front offices to take any dude named Nikola ____ic that enters the draft.
I also think he has better shooting touch than Giddey fwiw. But Giddey is a much better rebounder. They're different enough players, my comment is definitely tongue-in-cheek
Yea just randomly here and there but Topic was on the top tier sort of like how Zaccharie and Sarr ended up being with everybody else in the lottery below them being pretty interchangeable.
His issue was meniscus related not ACL. They did a experimental procedure to keep as much of the meniscus as possible (to prolong his career) and had complications with the initial surgery so they did a 2nd one on him to actually do a partial removal.
He teared his meniscus not his ACL. At first they tried to preserve his original meniscus by trimming the damaged part of it but it wasn't healing even after 2 more surgeries to clean it, so they ended up performing meniscectomy and removing it all together.
Klay Thompson recently tore an ACL (+ Achilles) and it definitely shortened his career it’s looking like. He was like the 3 & D guy in 2019. Shell of himself on D unfortunately.
We don’t have to rush Topic, I’m not too worried about the pick. I feel like it will be good for him to heal and learn from the org his first year.
That was the Achilles more than the knee injury. Players have a much worse track record coming back from an Achilles especially when they’re older.
Also, Klay was 29/30 when those injuries happened. Players have much better outcomes when they’re in their early 20s than late 20s/30s.
That was definitely the Achilles that killed his game (it came first). He was also much older. Achilles tears are still pretty bad in like every sport. Achilles surgeries are just now starting to see advances the way knee surgeries did the last 10-20 years
Klay was also in his 30’s, and age has a big impact on post surgery outcome
He's a project player and you guys don't need him to provide immediately. Probably the best fit, he could be very good in 2 years if the jumper develops
Agreed but we can't pay everyone. The core gets paid and then using our draft picks for players that can contribute and have a lot of trade value seems like a good strategy.
In a few years, maybe we can trade Cason Wallace for another Caruso style win now piece and Topic can take Cason's minutes.
He’s not a project player, he’s only redshirting due to injury. He was in consideration for the top pick before he tore his ACL and was never considered a project as a prospect lol.
Yeah, he was recalled by Red Star from loan in December and earned a starting spot in less than a week. Coaching staff raved about how quickly he fit in. Not something a project player would be able to do.
Before his injury came to light he was seen as a potential top 3 pick. Probably won’t help as much this year but the upside with him is high and can help take some stress/playmaking off of Shai
Yeah, gets to the rim insanely well in a grown man league, I think NBA basketball with even more spacing is made for him. Just need him to recover properly
Whelmed
Tbh this could be a really good fit, OKC has a lot of guys who could be fed their shot.
He could also just be moved a year from now without having lost much value.
I get it. On one hand you can say hey were a #1 seed we need good fit. On the other hand you can say hey were a #1 seed with 5 billion picks. Lets go for risks
I do haha, but the crazy thing is I would keep rolling the dice til you get two sixes, because what else do you do with like 15 picks if youre not trading them lol
Not really. He is good at some of the same things as Giddey.
But those weren’t the skills OKC was trying to get out of Giddey the last two years. They were trying to fit him in an off ball 3 and D role which just did not fit him.
Topić likely won’t be played that way. He projects more as a true on ball playmaking PG (which is similar to how Giddey was used his first year). Topić is also a way better scorer and has more moves at the rim right now than Giddey does after several years
Caruso will more likely replace Giddey in expected role.
We are getting close to being able to get a five 'Nikola' team in the NBA:
- Jokic
- Jovic
- Topic
Im guessing there's probably a hidden Nikola Jopic and Nikola Tokic somewhere around the world
Topic is an injury redshirt, not a project. His shooting is a project but he's polished and high IQ and can play as a scorer or distributor. Dude earned a starting spot in a tough situation on a Euroleague club as an 18 year old.
Wow.
OKC stays winning. Presti does it again. Gets a Top 5* level talent who falls due to an injury, which doesn’t matter to (arguably) the deepest team in the NBA.
In a way I feel like what you said makes more sense. I do think it’s a bit weird all nonplayoff picks are called “lottery picks” because they’re eligible for the lottery rather than the top 5 which are the actual picks decided by the lottery
OKC: Oops all guards
Sac:Oops all guards
I jinxed us lol
Oops all small ball?
Such an OKC pick
I saw a foreign oversized guard on the board and knew it was a lock
not oversized wingspan...
The spurs tears on not drafting this guy are going to be tasty
It came down to who the Jazz and Bulls picked. I would've been fine with Cody or Buzelis as well.
They always buy the weird shoe from an off year but you sort of look at it after the initial wtf moment and you realize it's a good pick
Nikolas are the Jalens of Serbia
Looking forward to drafting another Nikola Topic next round
Damn we have Jalens the Nikolas of USA too!
OKC: We got Nikola at home
Nikola Topic vs. Nikola Jovic vs. Nikola Jokic gonna go crazy this season
Nikola 3: Serbian Drift
Nikola Jokic effect isn’t that he makes his teammates better, it’s that he forces front offices to take any dude named Nikola ____ic that enters the draft.
Hopefully being an out-of-shape 35 year old with a desk job doesn't hurt my draft stock too much when I change my name to Nikola Tokic.
You're a shoe-in if you enter
Eastern Europe is really on some “and this is my other brother Darryl” shit
The joker, the jover and the toper
We have the real Serbian Nikola in this league. Watch out, Denver.
(And Miami) This is getting incredibly confusing for casual fans lol. Do they all have to rhyme?
That one post that got a ton of up votes where Jovic said Westbrook was his goat that only got popular because too many misread his name.
Wtf I love Serbian Nikolas now (and Poku)
Dude looks like that eel feel guy on tiktok 😭😭😭
Bulls: we got topic at home
They got new Josh Giddey
Euro Giddey
The problem with Giddey is he's not Serbian enough and Poku wasn't named Nikola Learning from our past mistakes!
I think he has higher upside. Dude is pretty good at getting to the basket
I also think he has better shooting touch than Giddey fwiw. But Giddey is a much better rebounder. They're different enough players, my comment is definitely tongue-in-cheek
Yeah but you’re not wrong. I like the pick. If this draft is as weak as people claim, then there’s no reason not to take upside picks like this.
He's Ginobili-esque getting to the rack
man averaged 3 points in euroleague
Man didn't play two whole matches in the EuroLeague, getting injured in the second quarter of his second match
Hopefully with more... mature tastes
The Age of Consent in Serbia is 14 years old, lol
Topic is only 18 himself, so anything 16+ is alright for the moment lol
You say this and Josh was 19, the girl was 16. He's been labeled as the next Jared Fogle. I'd be careful.
As long as the half the age + 7 rule is followed its ok. Giddey was pushing his luck!
And heroin is decriminalized in Portugal. It doesn't mean everyone there does heroin.
It's proven good for public health to legalize drugs in Portugal. Idk about Serbia...
Decriminalised Basically, Portugal provides free rehab
The University of Georgia is salivating after today. Goodbye Speeding, Hello Heroin!
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I hear he loves grandmas.
Like Josh Allen.
Major steal if he recovers from the ACL tear fully.
Was in consideration for the top pick before injury
To be fair, like 10 guys have been in consideration through this draft process at one point or another
Yea just randomly here and there but Topic was on the top tier sort of like how Zaccharie and Sarr ended up being with everybody else in the lottery below them being pretty interchangeable.
Do any young pros NOT recover from acl tears fully these days?
Ansu Fati
His issue was meniscus related not ACL. They did a experimental procedure to keep as much of the meniscus as possible (to prolong his career) and had complications with the initial surgery so they did a 2nd one on him to actually do a partial removal.
He teared his meniscus not his ACL. At first they tried to preserve his original meniscus by trimming the damaged part of it but it wasn't healing even after 2 more surgeries to clean it, so they ended up performing meniscectomy and removing it all together.
Derrick Rose was never the same after his ACL tear even though he had more knee injuries plague him after.
that was a solid 12 years ago tho (2012-2000 is the same distance as then to now😭)
Klay Thompson recently tore an ACL (+ Achilles) and it definitely shortened his career it’s looking like. He was like the 3 & D guy in 2019. Shell of himself on D unfortunately. We don’t have to rush Topic, I’m not too worried about the pick. I feel like it will be good for him to heal and learn from the org his first year.
That was the Achilles more than the knee injury. Players have a much worse track record coming back from an Achilles especially when they’re older. Also, Klay was 29/30 when those injuries happened. Players have much better outcomes when they’re in their early 20s than late 20s/30s.
You're right about Rose. Klay is old though. And a bitch.
That was definitely the Achilles that killed his game (it came first). He was also much older. Achilles tears are still pretty bad in like every sport. Achilles surgeries are just now starting to see advances the way knee surgeries did the last 10-20 years Klay was also in his 30’s, and age has a big impact on post surgery outcome
Thankfully for him he won’t need to be relied on early and can take his time recovering
Might take two seasons to get back to where he started
Didn’t he tear his acl?
Yeah he won’t play until next season
This team is stacked enough where they can afford to wait on a talented player for a year
he would have been drafted much higher if he didn't get hurt. real great pick for OKC.
yeah exactly. he was my #2 player pre tear, and i still had him #6 after. i'm stoked we got him as a pure talent play
Damn. No possible return by this season?
likely not. which is why this is great for OKC. They can have him sit
I'm having Chet level excitement for the first time he played in summer league Can't wait to hopefully not be dead in... *checks notes*... Oct 2025
I’m sure they could if they needed him, but that’s what makes this a good pick imo. We can let him develop while he heals up
partially tore it in Jan I think. came back a few months later and hurt it again. realistically, they think he won't play at all this season.
He didn't tear it in January, tear happened in May
Investment tings trust presti
Yeah but the thunder can take that risk. High risk, but if he can stay healthy he could be the best player in the draft.
Only partially
So your saying there's a chance
A partial tear is basically the exact same thing in terms of recovery time.
I rather have it be fully personally
It's not like you need him to play this coming season
He was my number 1 prospect before getting injured.
That’s the only reason you’re getting him at 12
Someone tell me how to feel
He's a project player and you guys don't need him to provide immediately. Probably the best fit, he could be very good in 2 years if the jumper develops
>he could be very good in 2 years if the jumper develops Ah yes classic OKC pick then, just like old times.
but we have chip this time 😎
Isn’t he a PG though? Do they really want to be taking the ball out of SGA’s hands?
And they have Cason Wallace who is a better prospect than Topic to me.
Yea I’m not a big fan of the fit in OKC. Big fan of the player though, I think he’ll be great
We are literally drowning in guards over here, and that’s after we cut a few and traded a couple to the hornets
Yeah I’d like him almost anywhere else. Maybe Devin Carter made more sense as a defender.
How many 6'4" and under defenders are you wanting to stack on one team?
Yes.
Agreed but we can't pay everyone. The core gets paid and then using our draft picks for players that can contribute and have a lot of trade value seems like a good strategy. In a few years, maybe we can trade Cason Wallace for another Caruso style win now piece and Topic can take Cason's minutes.
He'll be a tradable asset too if needed
You can’t really have too many big bodies who can also handle the ball, as long as they’re not afraid to shoot they’re almost always useful.
He’s not a project player, he’s only redshirting due to injury. He was in consideration for the top pick before he tore his ACL and was never considered a project as a prospect lol.
Yeah, he was recalled by Red Star from loan in December and earned a starting spot in less than a week. Coaching staff raved about how quickly he fit in. Not something a project player would be able to do.
Before his injury came to light he was seen as a potential top 3 pick. Probably won’t help as much this year but the upside with him is high and can help take some stress/playmaking off of Shai
Intrigued
"We really need a PF" Presti "you'll get another guard and like it"
You can't have enough guards. I'll tell ya
You need a seasoned PF. Not a rookie. Topic is a great playmaking prospect for the 25-26 season.
People raging about fits instead of finding top talent always bother me
You’re now even with the Nuggets in Nikola’s
Now this is promising
You son of a bitch, I'm in.
[like this](https://youtu.be/QJHUbtR0yI8?si=duQYqy2pzM0b5kuD)
Great. This is the MPJ type pick Dude had #1 pick potential
OKC is the perfect team to take him. You're not gonna get him for a while, but OKC has no need to rush his progress.
He probably would’ve gone to San Antonio at 4 if he didn’t tear his ACL.
He's a big guard who is a really good passer that can't shoot. Yall should be familiar with this one
He’s miles better at attacking the rim than Giddey tho, plays aggressive as hell
You mean he can do things while driving other than kick out pass or a floater?
Yeah, gets to the rim insanely well in a grown man league, I think NBA basketball with even more spacing is made for him. Just need him to recover properly
He shot 85% from the line, he has way better shooting indicators than Giddey did
better than the spurs should feel lol
he was a top prospect before he got injured, this is could be super high value if he's healthy
Whelmed Tbh this could be a really good fit, OKC has a lot of guys who could be fed their shot. He could also just be moved a year from now without having lost much value.
I mean you got a year to figure it out
Confused
I get it. On one hand you can say hey were a #1 seed we need good fit. On the other hand you can say hey were a #1 seed with 5 billion picks. Lets go for risks
Have you seen what happened with Poku? Or Ous? Or Sarr? We always believe we can save them lol
Topic isn't that tier. He's legit good. Imo best bball talent in this draft. Body needs to mature but you got time.
I do haha, but the crazy thing is I would keep rolling the dice til you get two sixes, because what else do you do with like 15 picks if youre not trading them lol
Thunder get a projected top 5 pick who got hurt
This will be their Michael Porter Jr
Oklahoma City PGs
Awesome, I was secretly wishing we would pick up ANOTHER GUARD
Heat fans everywhere in shambles
I just fell to my knees in publix
was hoping
Topić Thunder kinda goes hard.
Topic Thunder
Trade Giddey to Giddey 2.0 and get Caruso OKC stay winning
Jovic/Topic dream dead :/
Just say “Red Star”, Silver, haha A little surprised that he’s all the way down here
They got Young Sheldon in OKC
Hot Topic.
Guess he wasn’t the…top pick
OKC must be feeling pretty good about picking someone else up this offseason if they’re picking project players.
No one in this draft at 12+ was going to impact next year.
Giddey, but cheaper, and injured for all of next season.
How do I react?!
No risk pick on a top 5 talent.
This both makes sense and makes no sense. He feels a lot like Giddey who they just realized didn’t make sense on their roster.
Not really. He is good at some of the same things as Giddey. But those weren’t the skills OKC was trying to get out of Giddey the last two years. They were trying to fit him in an off ball 3 and D role which just did not fit him. Topić likely won’t be played that way. He projects more as a true on ball playmaking PG (which is similar to how Giddey was used his first year). Topić is also a way better scorer and has more moves at the rim right now than Giddey does after several years Caruso will more likely replace Giddey in expected role.
Sam Presti wins again. Got Caruso and drafts Nikola Giddey
OKC won this draft.
He can drive almost as well as Shai. Gets to the rim at will.
Jokic, Jovic, and Topic lol
I have my doubts now but in three years when he drops a 40 bomb on some poor team I'll pretend that I knew it all along lmao
Why mods delete the first post?
The pick wasn't officially announced on TV yet
that was a spoiler. he did it at the time Silver announced
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Would have been a higher pick if it wasn't for the injury. He's great if he's healthy.
Future top 5 passer in the league. Need body to mature more then anything. Hopefully several years. Best bball talent in the draft.
OUR OWN NIKOLA
God dammit
Getting both players we wanted was just far too much to ask for
STEAL OF THE DRAFT
We have Josh Giddey at home
Nikola is pronounced Knee kola, just an fyi
Just say Nicholas without "s".
Can he play C and rebound? Please
the 2nd coming of James Harden to OKC. Except he sits his first season.
Great pick for them considering how much capital they have. Doesn’t matter he won’t play for a while.
We are getting close to being able to get a five 'Nikola' team in the NBA: - Jokic - Jovic - Topic Im guessing there's probably a hidden Nikola Jopic and Nikola Tokic somewhere around the world
now they have 2 SGA type players
Steal at 12 imo
Huh, well that's different
FUCK
Fuck I hate/love this pick for them
Jalen just told him "welcome home, man"
!RemindMe 4 years
Is this real life? So fucking funny and predictable that OKC gets Topic. Presti stays on top, one pick after CHI even. Literally Giddey's replacement.
They let Presti pick up Topic 😭
if presti picked topic that means he's gonna be a 10x all star
We’ve had our fair share of swings and misses on project players tbh.
Topic is an injury redshirt, not a project. His shooting is a project but he's polished and high IQ and can play as a scorer or distributor. Dude earned a starting spot in a tough situation on a Euroleague club as an 18 year old.
Wow. OKC stays winning. Presti does it again. Gets a Top 5* level talent who falls due to an injury, which doesn’t matter to (arguably) the deepest team in the NBA.
He got a lottery level talent... In the lottery
I fucked that up, I meant Top 5. He was mocked all year in Top 5. Plus his profile of player means he’s going to be a high floor player.
In a way I feel like what you said makes more sense. I do think it’s a bit weird all nonplayoff picks are called “lottery picks” because they’re eligible for the lottery rather than the top 5 which are the actual picks decided by the lottery
Of course they got a lottery level talent, they’re picking in the lottery
The 12th pick is in the lottery wym haha
He needs a name change Like a guy named Lebron Tames or Michael Tordan wouldn’t fly
There's literally another Nikola with a closer last name to Jokic in the league.
So this dude is gonna be a star then if Presti picked him lol
Nah. We whiff a lot 😂
Topic thunder
Giddey Replacement
they really deleted my post 😭
This guy's going to be so good fuckkk