Potential No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft goes down with concerning knee injury

The 2024 NBA Draft Class doesn't have a consensus No. 1 prospect like we've seen in recent years with phenoms like Victor Wembanyama or Zion Williamson but Nikola Topic has definitely been in the mix. The latest mock draft from FanSided's Chris Kline had him going No. 2 to the Washington Wizards. He's also ranked as the No. 2 prospect on The Ringer's NBA Draft Big Board and by Sam Vecenie of The Athletic.

All that may be up in the air though after Topic appeared to suffer a non-contact knee injury in Game 1 of the Finals for the ABA League, where he plays for Serbian team Crvena Zvezda.

Watch the video to the end and you can see that Topic had to be helped off the floor and didn't seem to be able to put much weight on that leg. As of this writing, no further updates were available on the nature of his injury or his status but, as Don Harris pointed out above, Topic missed four months earlier this season with an injury to the same knee.

Will Nikola Topic slide in the NBA Draft because of this knee injury?

Because there is no clear-cut No. 1 in this draft there are already a lot more viable permutations than in most years and the potential of teams like the Rockets or Grizzlies to trade out of the top-10 only offers more uncertainty. Even if Topic was healthy he may not have been in play for the Hawks simply because of his skill overlap with Dejounte Murray and Trae Young. Several mock drafts have linked Topic with the Spurs over the course of this season and this could be to their benefit if he slides and they're able to take another prospect at No. 4 and still land Topic at No. 8.

Topic is a point guard and primary creator with excellent size, at 6-foot-5. Scouting reports, like the one from our own Chris Kline, have highlighted his skill, craft and ability to change speeds:

"Topic's underrated skill package will eventually win over the skeptics. It will take the right team to unlock Topic's full impact early on, but he's a high-feel guard that will consistently invade the teeth of the defense and locate shooters. His floor is relatively high, even if his ceiling is tied to concerns about his jumper and defense."

It seems likely Topic's season with Crvena Zvezda is over regardless of how bad the injury is, considering the league finals have already started. Whether or not he's able to participate in pre-draft workouts could dictate where he ultimately falls in the draft as will the prognosis for his availability at the beginning of the season if surgery is required. Regardless, a murky NBA Draft picture has gotten murkier.