OKC's next NBA Draft robbery is already on the roster

They can't keep getting away with it! And yet, that is precisely what Sam Presti and the Oklahoma City Thunder keep doing. OKC's championship run capped off the most dominant single season for a team since Michael Jordan was torching defenses in Chicago. Now, somehow, some way, the Thunder keep adding meaningful talent to a stacked (and still reasonably affordable) roster.

OKC has been the No. 1 seed in the West for two straight seasons. In their last two drafts, the Thunder added the 12th overall pick in 2024 and the 15th overall pick in 2025, both acquired via long-forgotten trades and part of Presti's unfathomable mountain of assets, which he keeps under lock and key. No team is better equipped to win now and to survive the penalties of a strict luxury tax code than OKC, because the Thunder will just keep drafting well.

The next Thunder breakout is already happening right before our eyes. Belated rookie point guard Nikola Topić, the aforementioned 12th overall pick in 2024, is finally making his NBA debut (in Summer League) after missing the 2024-25 campaign with a torn ACL. Still only 19, Topić was the No. 3 prospect on FanSided's draft board at the time — and he's already delivering the goods in Salt Lake City.

Nikola Topic showing early positive signs for OKC in Summer League

The actual numbers for Topić don't really match the eye test through two Summer League games. He scored 11 points on 2-of-13 shooting against Philadelphia on Monday and committed seven turnovers against Memphis on Saturday. But it's Summer League in Salt Lake City, which is not a context that remotely resembles real NBA basketball. Topić is playing on a cramped floor, with a group of players he has never met (and will probably never meet again). He also hasn't played competitive basketball in a year. We can peer through the smoke and locate the pearl of truth at the center of all this.

Frankly, the pearl of truth is a big fat *shrug* because we can't write anything in ink after two games of Summer League. But the other truth is that Topić was a highly productive teenager in top European pro leagues, splitting his time between Euroleague's Red Star and the Adriatic League's Mega Basket, one of the most successful Europe-to-NBA talent pipelines in recent history. We've seen him thrive against tough, physical defenses and with pros around him, doing much of what we've seen in these early summer games for OKC.

Topić was always the perfect match for OKC. Him falling to 12th felt like a godsend. OKC's entire scheme is built around the intersection of size and skill. Moreover, it's built around a bunch of high-level slashers, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the head of the snake. OKC can generate dribble penetration and set defense in rotation better than any other team in basketball.

Their new rookie point guard aligns perfectly with that M.O. He's 6-foot-6, with incredible poise and dynamism as a ball-handler. Topić isn't an all-time athlete, but he's deceptively quick, comfortable going from a slow plodding dribble to a downhill bee-line without a moment's hesitation. He can accelerate and decelerate as well as any guard prospect since Luka Dončić, and it makes Topić a real handful setting the table.

He will need to prove that his 3-point shot is reliable and that he can potentially hit a few mid-range pulls at the next level, but Topić will put pressure on the rim, score with incredible finesse in the paint and throw a doozy of a pass every now and again to catch the defense sleeping. He's another high-feel playmaking engine to plug into OKC's unstoppable machine. It could get a bit crowded in the OKC backcourt next season, but expect Topić to leave his mark sooner than later.