Nikola Topic

From Novi Sad, Serbia, Topic joined the Crvena Zvezda youth system in 2020 and was the youngest player to score a point for the team in EuroLeague play in 2022 when he was just 16 years old. He began the 2023-24 season playing for Mega MIS in the Adriatic league before transferring back to Crvena Zvezda, where he suffered a knee injury. Topic returned to action at the end of April and is expected to be 100 percent healthy for the NBA's Summer League. Between the two teams, Topic averaged 15.9 points, 5.9 assists and 3.5 rebounds across 20 total appearances. At 6-foot-6, Topic is a big guard who can get where he wants and makes the right play more often than not. He has excellent pace when driving to the basket, can finish with both hands and is a great distributor who looks like a veteran with the ball in his hands. Topic appeared confident shooting from the top of the key when opponents played drop coverage in pick-and-rolls, but his 3-point shooting needs to improve as he shot only 30% from deep in 2023-24. His frame suggests he can develop into a rangy defender who can disrupt passing lanes, but he needs to put on weight to become a capable one-on-one defender in the NBA. Topic is one of the youngest prospects in the 2024 NBA Draft and will be 19 years old for his entire rookie campaign. Without an improved jumper, Josh Giddey is an apt comparison for a rookie Topic, but the youngster also has shades of Luka Doncic and Goran Dragic. The Slovenian stars are 6-8 and 6-4, respectively, so Topic's build has him somewhere in between, though it wouldn't be shocking to see him continue to grow. Topic would likely benefit from joining a team in a full rebuild, so he can have plenty of developmental minutes early on.