Well, any 2025 EuroBasket viewing interest for the Oklahoma City Thunder has been zapped. Needing to trim its roster, Serbia has moved on from Nikola Topic as he finishes just shy of making its 12-player roster for the international tournament.
Topic participated in Serbia’s friendly schedule, but won’t make it past that. It shouldn’t be too surprising to see him fall short. The 20-year-old recently returned from a year-long absence as he recovered from a partially torn ACL. While he suited up to play in the 2025 Summer League, the low-stress environment doesn’t have the same stakes as the regular season or playoffs.
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Entering Serbia’s training camp and friendly schedule, Topic was a long shot to make its roster. 11 of the 12 players who made the main roster are in the NBA or EuroLeague. Nikola Jokic headlines the roster. Other NBA players included are Bogdan Bogdanovic, Tristan Vukcevic and Nikola Jovic.
The 2025 EuroBasket will take place from Aug. 27 to Sept. 14. 24 teams will participate and be split into four groups. Once group play is over, 16 teams will advance to the knockout tournament. The reigning EuroBasket champion is Spain, which won it in 2022.
Even though Topic didn’t graduate to the final roster, it was still a meaningful couple of weeks to play for Serbia. He had an up-and-down Summer League. To get more run in as he makes up for lost time should only help him. Expect him to compete for the backup guard minutes for the Thunder in the 2025-26 season.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Serbia cuts Nikola Topic from roster ahead of 2025 EuroBasket