Top-10 draft pick Nikola Topic has a partially torn ACL, his second injury of the year. He will travel to the States to visit a doctor soon.
Projected Lottery Pick Suffers ACL Injury
Nikola Topic is an electric playmaking guard who is sparking conversation among draft analysts. Following this news, he will travel to the United States, where he will visit a doctor and decide whether the injury will need surgery. If he does have surgery, Topic could potentially miss the entire 2024/25 season. Topic is expected to be a lottery pick, with some mock drafts placing him as high as #2 before the news about his injury broke.
Topic initially suffered a knee injury in January that forced him off the courts for four months. He reaggravated the injury in late April during the Adriatic League playoff finals. Topic’s agent, Misko Raznatovic, confirmed he was at the NBA Draft Combine in Italy. Topic met with the Spurs‘ team doctor while at the Combine.
“The doctors who checked the stability of the knee confirmed that it is in excellent shape,” Raznatovic told ESPN. Raznatovic expressed optimism that his draft stock would remain high despite the injury.
The Serbian guard rapidly slid out of the top five of several mock drafts after the injury. The fear of his injury becoming a weak point, along with unimpressive measurements put him in the #8-#15 range. Teams with a top-15 pick will have access to Topic’s medical diagnostics.
Topic’s Injury Will Affect Draft Order
His injury is certainly concerning. There were a lot of questions and concerns with Topic’s health going into the Combine because of how long he was out. In his first game on the court, he visibly played less aggressively and without the explosiveness that scouts admired. Injuring the same knee that he played so gingerly on could hinder his chances of having a long career in the League, as well as taking away some of his positive qualities.
“I’m not 100% healed. I haven’t started running or practicing with the basketball,” Topic told reporters at the Combine. “I’m focusing on rehab, on my body and knee.”
Topic’s 6’6″ frame as a big guard, his vision, and his overall feel for the game are the most exciting elements of his game. He’s shown the ability to have a jumper, and his elite free-throw shooting helps make his below-average three-point shooting (29%) bearable. With his draft spot sliding due to the injury, Topic falls in the range of San Antonio at #8, Utah at #10, or even Philadelphia at #16.
“Topić has suffered two recent sprained knee injuries, causing him to miss most of the 2024 calendar year to this point. His range is wider than expected right now, with a chance he could slip down the board even farther than this,” The Athletic draft columnist Sam Vecenie wrote.
“Topic is attending the June 4-7 pre-draft camp in Treviso, Italy, for prospects excused from the now-mandatory NBA Draft Combine because their overseas seasons had not finished. The medical report teams get from that setting will be vital in determining Topić’s ultimate range. Teams are also trying to wrap their head around basing a lottery grade of him off a 13-game sample.”
With Topic sliding down, some prospects could jump up. Ron Holland could move a couple of places upwards — his energetic brand of play, defensive intensity, youth, and shooting form will be appreciated by many franchises. So could French prospect Tidjane Salaun. Salaun is a wing with an exciting build, standing at 6’10 with a wingspan of 7’2″. Although his relentless, confidence, and athleticism are intriguing, he’s markedly a raw prospect with horrible basketball instincts.
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