Aug. 26, 2026, 9:05 p.m. CT
As August plays out its final days, we’re officially in the dead zone of the NBA calendar. Not much will go on in these couple of months. All of the major offseason moves have already happened. Teams across the league enjoy some serenity before the marathon starts back up again.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the 2026-27 season as co-title favorites — alongside the San Antonio Spurs. Even with their offseason departures, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren should suffice to stay in the middle of the title hunt.
With nothing else happening, Thunder Wire will regularly conduct Thunder Mailbags over the remainder of the offseason. In this edition, a social media user asked the following question in the DMs — what role will Nikola Topic have this upcoming season?
There’s a decently sized spectrum of outcomes. For the first time in a while, the Thunder will enter a regular season with questions about their depth. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but being without Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins is a combined absence that will open up a glut of minutes and possessions.
Say what you want about their playoff shortcomings, but that trio was a bunch of regular-season warriors. You could safely count on each to be a positive during the seven-month marathon. Now, there’s a vacuum of possessions and minutes up for grabs. That means a quartet of relatively-new NBA players could fill it — Topic, Thomas Sorber, Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz.
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Entering his third season, Topic is under more pressure than the rest. He only has two more years of runway left on his rookie-scale contract. The first two seasons went to waste with a torn ACL and a testicular cancer diagnosis. He only has 10 NBA games under his belt.
Let’s look at the glass-half-full outcome. Topic quickly gets over the offseason back surgery he had in June 2026 and looks like a lottery talent. The 21-year-old becomes one of OKC’s top reserve guards and plays his way into the rotation. In his limited action, he’s shown off his playmaking talent with a handful of double-digit assist games at the NBA level. He’s also shown he’s not timid when it comes to hunting for his shot — both at attacking the rim and pulling up from the outside.
Now, let’s look at the glass-half-empty outcome. Topic sits on the outside of OKC’s rotation again. The minutes just aren’t there anymore for him in a stacked backcourt. He eventually gets dealt at the 2027 NBA trade deadline. As the Thunder see their payroll balloon in the coming years, they need to be more cognizant of each dollar spent. That might mean moving on from the 2024 lottery pick before he even had a chance.
Now, of the two outcomes, which is more likely? I hate to say it, but probably the latter. Topic needs to run the offense to reach his NBA ceiling. I just don’t know how feasible that is with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell ahead of him. Even Cason Wallace could get more run at point guard as he’s promoted to a full-time starter. The possessions just aren’t there for Topic, which means a change of scenery could do him good.
That said, you just never know. Topic can surprise folks by becoming a contributor. Somebody has to fill in the roles left behind by OKC’s cost-cutting moves. As the old saying goes, how things look on paper doesn’t always translate to the court. That’s the beauty of sports.