2024 NBA Draft: Projected Top-10 Pick Nikola Topic Pick Has Torn ACL

The projected lottery selection is dealing with an injury setback ahead of the draft.

Nikola Topic, FIBA.com / Nikola TOPIC (SRB)'s profile - FIBA U18 European Championship 2023 - FIBA .basketball

A projected top-ten pick in the 2024 NBA Draft is dealing with a knee injury within a month of the event. On Wednesday, Nikola Topic's agent, Misko Raznatovic, confirmed to ESPN that the guard has a partially torn ACL.

Right now, Topic is in Treviso, Italy, where he's at the NBA draft combine, which saw him go through the NBA's medical examination, including imaging.

Topic had a midseason transfer from Mega MIS to Red Star Belgrade, where he shortly suffered a knee injury in January. He missed the past four months of action in the Adriatic League. He made a return to the floor in April, though he played just three games before re-injuring the same knee in the playoffs.

The 18-year-old guard's draft stock shouldn't drop because of the injury, considering his youth and initial feedback on the injury. Soon, Topic will travel to the United States where he will be further examined and make a decision regarding his surgery and rehab.

"The doctors who checked the stability of the knee confirmed that is in excellent shape," Raznatovic told ESPN.

Topic is a 6-foot-7, playmaking guard with an incredibly high ceiling, and is the youngest projected first-round selection. He averaged 18.6 points and 6.9 assists with Mega MIS this past season. His 3-point shooting was inefficient, coming in at a 29 percent clip, but he shot 65 percent from the floor on 2-pointers.

The Serbian guard has elite size for his position and can penetrate a defense incredibly well, making him an incredible prospect for teams looking for a lead guard to facilitate offensively. With experience playing professional basketball at a young age, Topic has high potential in what is considered a "weaker" draft class.

The NBA Draft will be held on June 26 and 27, with the first round on the first day of the event being held in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

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