How the Brooklyn Nets Can Come Away with a Draft Steal

A top prospect is showing shades of Michael Porter Jr.'s situation from 2018.

Photo Courtesy - @ThunderChats (X)

Six years ago, Michael Porter Jr. had major injury concerns, causing him to drop to the Denver Nuggets at pick 14. After sitting out his rookie campaign due to back surgery, Porter Jr. developed into one of the best scorers in the NBA and served as a key piece in Denver's 2023 Finals run.

Nikola Topic, once considered a lock to go within the top-7 of this year's draft, was recently announced to have partially torn his ACL that will require surgery. This will undoubtedly cause the six-foot-six guard to drop in mock drafts, and potentially scare away teams who once were vying for his services. This is where the Nets need to jump into the mix.

Will he be able to contribute immediately? Certainly not, but Brooklyn will not be in position to heavily compete next season anyways. If they can trade into the No. 14 or No. 15 pick to snag Topic, the impact could be immense.

With head coach Jordi Fernandez's new "player development-first" approach, Topic would have all the tools available to him to not only recovery properly, but develop into the star he was supposed to pre-injury. The 18-year-old possesses elite floor general ability, something the Nets desperately lack.

Sacrificing one of Brooklyn's sought after pieces, like Dorian Finney-Smith, to take a chance on the Serbian prospect who was once viewed as a potential first-overall selection would be an extremely successful kick-off to the Fernandez era, and possibly provide the Nets with a star point guard in the future.

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