More help is on the way. The Oklahoma City Thunder have recalled Nikola Topic from the OKC Blue on Friday. He will be available to make his 2026-27 regular season debut in their matchup against the LA Clippers.
With how dire the health situation is right now, the Thunder badly need NBA-capable bodies. Topic represents that. He had missed the first 12 games of the 2026-27 regular season recovering from offseason back surgery he had in June 2026. Originally expected to be ready by training camp, things obviously went slower than anticipated.
Now, Topic is back. He played in two G League games for the OKC Blue over the past week — just the first half in both — as part of his ramp-up process. He was initially supposed to get recalled on Thursday,
but the nationwide Microsoft Outlook outage prevented OKC from officially making that happen until now.
After the Thunder declined his 2027-28 team option, he's essentially playing out a contract year as he'll be an unrestricted free agent this upcoming summer.
It's been an injury-and-illness-plagued start to Topic's NBA journey. The Thunder added him with the No. 12 pick of the 2024 NBA draft. He missed the entire 2024-25 season with a torn ACL. He was then limited to just 10 games in the 2025-26 season after being diagnosed with testicular cancer — which he eventually beat after several rounds of chemotherapy.
Now, this latest back surgery cost him his offseason and the first three weeks of the 2026-27 regular season. That said, Topic has a real chance to get minutes from the jump. The Thunder will be without several top players for the foreseeable future. He has a pathway to sponge up rotation minutes.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Nikola Topic to make 2026-27 regular season debut in Thunder-Clippers game
