How Vasilije Micic's advice guided OKC Thunder to Nikola Topic on NBA Draft night

The Oklahoma City Thunder was looking to draft a player who was thousands of miles away and had no timetable for return after injury.

Luckily, they knew someone who had been there before.

Vasilije Micic is from Kraljevo, Serbia, which is just a few hours from the hometown of Nikola Topic ’s — the Thunder’s 12th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft — in Novi Sad, Serbia. Micic also happened to briefly play for the Thunder during the 2023-24 season before being traded to the Charlotte Hornets in February.

“We spent a lot of time talking to Vasa about this player,” Presti said. “Truthfully, he was a very insightful person relative to this particular player.”

However, distance is not the only aspect that drew Micic and Topic together.

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Micic had proved he could win at the professional level and was a two-time EuroLeague Champion, but the game was not always kind to the 6-foot-3, 188-pound point guard. After turning pro at 16, the same age as Topic, Micic suffered a season-ending knee injury during his second season with the Serbian League.

“Vasa had a similar injury early,” Presti said. “But he’s got a great basketball mind, and being able to talk to him about what a player at that age is going through, was important from an empathetic standpoint.”

Topic is currently in the same position as Micic was over a decade ago — somewhat new to the professional basketball scene and injured — and after receiving that diagnosis, there has not been a set timetable for him to return after partially tearing his ACL in his left knee in April.

The Thunder was willing to take a chance due to the young player's basketball IQ and personality on and off the court, and it was Micic who helped OKC see that.

“Nikola is an extremely mature person,” Presti said. “If you speak to his teammates or observe him in a team setting … As a person, he is really interesting in terms of how he sees teams, and basketball, and competition and learning. At that age, it is pretty rare.“And when you have someone you know as well as Micic, that is a very helpful tool.”

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Though the relationship with Micic and OKC seemingly ended when he was traded to Charlotte for Gordon Hayward , the veteran allowed the organization to see that it was possible to navigate life and basketball after an early injury in a player’s career.

“When talking to Vass, I spoke specifically to him about having an injury at that age,” Presti said. “We asked him questions like, ‘What was that like, and how could we put ourselves in that position?’”

Although nationality is what originally tied the two players together, it was Micic’s advice about age and injury that allowed the Thunder to put everything in perspective when making its decision on draft night.

“Obviously, Vasa is Serbian, so he knows him,” Presti said. “But I do think that having that insight from him as a foreign player and being injured at the same point and time was super valuable for us.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How Vasilije Micic's advice guided OKC Thunder to Nikola Topic on NBA Draft night