Nikola Topić heads to OKC Blue after back surgery

The news came from Thunder PR a few hours before OKC's home game against Washington, and for once it's a Topić health update that points the right way.

Some background on why this matters. On June 13, Topić had a lumbar microdiscectomy in Dallas, done by Dr. Andrew Dossett with Thunder medical staff in the room. The team said at the time he'd be ready for the start of training camp. Camp came and went, the season tipped, and he still hadn't played. So getting assigned to the Blue isn't a demotion. It's the first sign the back is close to holding up in real games.

It's also the latest chapter in one of the rougher starts to an NBA career you'll find. OKC took Topić 12th overall in 2024 knowing he'd torn his ACL before the draft, and he missed his entire rookie year. Then during the 2025 preseason he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, went through surgery and chemo, and didn't make his NBA debut until February 12, 2026. He got into 10 regular-season games before the back gave out. He's 20 years old and he's already lost more time than most guys do in a whole career.

Topić isn't the only Thunder guard with a back problem right now. Friday's injury report against the Wizards had another one on it.

That's Jaylin Williams missing a 3rd straight game with low back spasms. Spasms aren't surgery, and nothing has been reported beyond the game-to-game designation, but Williams is a real piece of OKC's rotation. Having 2 backs on the injury report at once is the kind of thing a deep team can shrug off for a week and gets annoying after that.

There's no word yet on when Topić plays his first game for the Blue or how long he'll stay down there. Last time around, in February, OKC used a G League stint as the bridge from cancer treatment to the NBA, and he debuted with the Thunder within days. If the back handles a few Blue games, expect the same thing again. For a guy who keeps getting knocked down before he gets going, a quiet couple of weeks in the G League would be a win.