Sam Presti Calls Nikola Topic 'Extraordinarily Mature' After No. 12 Pick in 2024 NBA Draft

The Oklahoma City Thunder have selected Nikola Topic in the NBA Draft and Sam Presti had high praise for Topic.

Jun 26, 2024; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Nikola Topic arrives before the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder selected Nikola Topic with the No. 12 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. This selection was the only pick made official at the time Sam Presti spoke to the assembled local media so the top executive could not touch on Weber State product Dillon Jones who the Thunder used the No. 26 pick on after making a trade with the New York Knicks.

Oklahoma City has made the Topic selection with the knowledge that the 18-year-old guard would need a red shirt year after suffering a partially torn ACL just mere weeks ago.

“we have seen all the imagining. Everything that we’ve seen - we are comfortable with," Presti Said mentioning the way the organization handled Chet Holmgren's redshirt rookie season as a boost of confidence for how to maximize Topic's year off.

"He is extraordinarily mature," Presti said praising Topic on Wednesday night following the Lottery selection.

The Oklahoma City Thunder's top executive made it known that Topic will be with the team right away and begin integrating into the roster despite his injury.

Topic hails from Serbia where the Thunder have seen ties to former players such as Aleksej Pokusevskiand Vasilije Micic. The 30-year-old Euroleague MVP was quizzed about what Topic is going through as a young player suffering an injury by Presti previously the General Manager revealed.

Ultimately, the 18-year-old Serbian fits the Thunder's mold to a tee with extremely high upside to was Presti illustrated on Wednesday.

“High processing on offense, high skill level with regards to vision and passing and that's combined with big players. People that can handle the ball, make decisions with the ball and are interchangeable. It's something we value in players... Some of the things we're able to add to the team tonight in general are consistent with things that we've been trying to focus on for several years now," Presti said.

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