The Oklahoma City Thunder declined to pick up Nikola Topic‘s $7.4 million option for next season, making the 2024 lottery pick a pending unrestricted free agent.
The team also announced it picked up options on the contracts of Jared McCain and Thomas Sorber.
A Difficult Path for Topic
Topic, the 12th overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft, has appeared in only 10 games for Oklahoma City over the past three seasons. He is still recovering from back surgery he underwent this summer and has no timetable for a return.
Topic missed all of his rookie season with a knee injury he suffered before he was drafted. He then missed a large portion of last season after receiving a testicular cancer diagnosis during the preseason.
He had a procedure to address the cancer in October 2025, then underwent chemotherapy and worked his way back into shape. He made his NBA debut on Feb. 12 and appeared in 10 games.