Sam Presti just made a BRUTAL decision...

Sam Presti and the Thunder, they just made a brutal decision on Nikola Topic, declining the team option on the 21-year-old guard from Serbia. After OKC made every move possible to fight off second apron penalties this past offseason, well, it looks like handing Topic $7 million was not in Sam Presti's plans, and we are here today on Thunder Digest with the newest financial update on the OKC Thunder. And to take a look at why Nikola Topic, the 12th overall pick just two years back, was left on the table and his team option declined very recently. I'm Gabe Ebersole. Thank you for watching today's video. And we're jumping right into the Thunder declining Nikola Topic in his team option. And it wasn't the only decision that was announced by Sam Presti yesterday in the team option department as the OKC Thunder have exercised their team options on both Jared McCain. and Thomas Sorber, but they will not do so for Nikola Topic. Now, this video is covering the latter of those decisions, Nikola Topic and his team option being declined. But here on Thunder Digest, we will have full-length videos covering both Jared McCain and Thomas Sorber, their team options being picked up, and what you can expect to see from them and their roles in this team on the future. So make sure you subscribe to Thunder Digest so you don't miss out on that content, any of our pre-games, post-games, live game watch-alongs. Everything you could use for your Thunder news is here in one easy, convenient place. And we're trying to hit 11,000 subscribers by Thanksgiving. So if you're subscribed already, one, thank you so much for your continued support. And if you're not subscribed to the Best Thunder community on all of social media, well, now is your chance and you can help us hit our goal. By the holidays, as we get right into this video, we are going to be getting into Sam Presti's most recent rolling, which was that Nikola Topic's team option will be declined by the OKC Thunder and why this should be viewed as a financial decision by the team because Nikola Topic, he's getting paid this year, five and a half million dollars. But that fourth year rookie extension, well, that would be if they picked up his team option, seven and a half million dollars. that they would owe Topich next year. And the team, well, one, it is under very, very heavy financial strain right now. When you take a look at a team that is $50 million over the salary cap, that is $14 million over the luxury tax, that is $5 million over the first apron, they do sit $7.5 million under that second apron limit. Credit to the hard work that Sam Presti did this offseason. He moved out Lou Doerr, Aaron Wiggins right beside him, and then Isaiah Joe as well. to keep the team under that death penalty line that dynasties die by and OKC they have been able to keep their big three intact because because of this they've been able to extend Isaiah Hartenstein, Cason Wallace but guys like Nikola Topic guys who their their value to this team it is a little bit more of a question mark well it is going to be harder for the team to commit money because Nikola Topic's first three NBA seasons they were interrupted to say This man has had the worst injury luck of any guy that is just 21 years old I have ever seen. Topic has only appeared in 10 games through his first three seasons in the NBA due to tearing his ACL shortly after being selected 12th overall back in 2024, then was diagnosed with cancer in 2025. And then this past June, most recently, he has a lumbar back surgery. So In the meantime, in between that, only able to get 10 NBA games in for the OKC Thunder during last season. And the craziest part is, he was pretty all right during that time. 21 years old, he definitely showed enough promise that would be intriguing to have him on the team. He was a playmaker, four and a half assists in 16 minutes. He shot 40% from three, was able to rebound. He's 6'6", so a bigger guard that can handle the ball. Topic showed enough promise at 21 years old. That you would probably be willing to take a shot on him if he hadn't played 10 games. And the fact that he was doing this, despite having no rhythm, despite basketball probably being in the back of his mind during the majority of his recovery process, and rightfully so, this man went through hell and back to get on the basketball court. So for him to recover from cancer, be declared cancer-free, and get out there and kind of hoop for 10 games. Pretty impressive for him, but making five and a half million dollars this year, that jumping to seven and a half million dollars, he just hasn't earned the right to that quite yet, and with the team facing the financial burdens that they are, well, they have to make a move like this, like saving Nikola Topic, because all in all, this move saves the team 60 million dollars in the long run, because once you get into the luxury tax, into the first apron, Lord forbid, into the second apron, Every dollar is multiplied exponentially. We saw the team save $200 million when they moved Lou Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe this past offseason. So saving $7.5 million on the payroll, it'll save you $60 million in the tax department, which, you know, Presi sometimes is going to have to put the foot down and say, Nikola Topic, we're going to have to maybe restructure this deal. We're going to have to maybe give you an AJ Mitchell-esque deal where we're going three Three years for $3 million. Both sides win where you get the years guaranteed on the team. We saved some money in the long run. I mean, even the team with iHeart, they just, you know, knocked him down a couple million dollars a year from about 28 down to 25 to give him that long-term assurance. So you see this happen. And Nikola Topic, he might be the next guy on the chopping block. He might be the guy who hits free agency as his availability just has not been there. This season, he hasn't played following his lower back surgery that he had in June. For him to get on the court, for him to prove his worth, it might be for him going for a long-term deal where OKC is able to save some money. So they might end up restructuring this deal. The big thing that we know for a fact is that this decision declining the 21-year-old backup point guard Tovich and his team option, it isn't a reflection of what they think of him as a player and what he's shown on the court so far in just those 10 games. And OKC, they have two options on the table. Is this purely a financial move? Do they purely decline this and plan on re-signing him for cheaper in the offseason, trying to get him back on that AJ Mitchell-esque deal where you get him for two, three, maybe even four years for under $5 million a year? Or is this OKC moving on, letting Topich hit free agency, not wanting to take the toll of his injuries on their 15-man roster anymore, such a deep 15-man roster that every spot is so valuable for this team? And they don't want to pay the 7.5 as well for, you know. Those luxury tax dollars, that has multiplied as well because the Thunder payroll, it makes every single option that they make more expensive in this long run, right? Because this team trying to keep this championship core intact, the big three, they got those guys as well as the other members of the starting lineup in Case and Wallace, iHeart, both of them extended this offseason. So when you're trying to build the depth around that, they're going to be paying luxury tax money, first apron money. It's not going to be a matter of if. It's a matter of how much, and it comes down to who they're going to cut out of this picture. Really, how they cut some of that money that they're going to owe and cut that down. And like you saw, if they're able to cut that down by $60 million by declining this option on Nikola Topic, well, that's sometimes a sacrifice that's going to have to be made. Like I said, it is very possible that they get him back on a short-term deal, I mean a longer-term deal, excuse me, for a shorter, lower amount of money over a longer period of time. Another benefit of this is that we do have this guy for the rest of the season if he does come back, an offensive-oriented guy that we can go out there, run and gun with, and I think this would be an effective lineup considering how down we are just to get offense on the floor. We scored under 100 points the past two games against two Texas teams, so getting some offense on the floor, Topich back, it can't hurt us with who we have available to us right now. Maybe he isn't a part of the long-term picture anymore. Maybe he's going to have to take less money if he does want to be. But Sam Presti so far, he has done a great job of locking in the OKC Thunder and their championship core. And we're going to see if Nikola Topic is going to be a part of this. But what we know right now is that he is not part of the immediate picture, that he is at the very bare minimum on the chopping block. He's in a prove-it type of situation because the Thunder, they don't let players get too restricted free agency. They either extend their contracts. Or they trade them. The most recent example we have of someone not getting their contract extended of hitting restricted free agency, that was Uzman Zhang, who is on the Milwaukee Bucks. So he got up out of there, and we saw that coming from a mile away, and it's looking like a similar situation. Cason Wallace was a restricted free agent this past offseason. He got his five-year deal done, over $100 million total. So they locked him up because part of the championship picture. Sure, Jared McCain, likewise. He was drafted by Philly, but... traded here so shortly after that he had to get his deal offered for his fourth year by OKC as well. That was picked up yesterday. And another guy who had his deal picked up yesterday, Thomas Sorber, had his fourth year deal picked up yesterday as well. And he is another guy who injured like Topic. And that's what I point to when I'm looking at maybe this team is looking to resign Topic for less money and the injuries aren't as big of a concern. Sam Presti stamped This guy, when he drafted him. Years ago. And maybe he still has faith in the 21-year-old, very young guy bouncing back and being a valuable part of this organization. Maybe he just wants to lock him up for the long term because he knows he can get him on that deal. I mean, realistically, OKC has all the leverage in that type of situation. And we're taking a look at this team and what they have available to them right here, right now, in the immediate future. Because even now, you're missing Caruso. You're going to be missing, obviously, Topic for the foreseeable future. But when he comes back, when Caruso gets healthy. You're looking at Topich kind of running the offense off of the bench, hoping to be a valuable playmaker in that regard. And moving forward in that picture, well, is that going to be worth his contract? You're hopefully taking up a guy like Thomas Sorber, who maybe big picture, you can save money by moving Hartenstein off of his $25 million per year contract. Maybe that is Presti's next big move and why he picked up a Thomas Sorber over a guy like Nikola Topic. Only time will tell what they're planning on doing with this roster. But the aprons are intended so that if you're a high spending team, you're not in a position to add more talent to your roster. Okay, see, they have such a war chest of draft picks. in the future and that they've had over the past couple of years. They have such good in-house development. They've had such good roster building over the last few years that they don't need to go acquire talent. They just need to keep the guys that they have in place. Presti has been building towards that the last couple of off-seasons. And with this most recent move, cutting Nikola Zobich out of the picture, declining his team option. It's looking like it might be an Usman Jang situation where they let him walk in free agency. And Sam Presti, the thing we have to keep in mind, the best executive in the NBA by far, sensational, and you can't ask for any better than what he has given us so far. So whichever side of the pendulum this ends up going, whether we end up re-signing Topic on a longer term deal or the cheaper than the $7.5 million per year that we simply cannot afford to have picked up. Or, whether it's going to be us letting him walk in free agency, it's in Sam Presti we trust on Thunder Digest. We're just here to update you with every single Thunder thing that is happening. And we hope you subscribe so we can continue to do that for you guys. And we hope you let us know down in the comments, how do you think Sam Presti should handle Tobitsch from here? Should they re-sign him on that cheaper deal? Should they let him hit free agency because they haven't seen enough games from him? I think the thing we can all agree on as Thunder fans is that, you know, His lack of availability is not his fault, largely over his first three seasons in the NBA. Just 21 years old, he has had the most unfortunate break of bad luck that we have really ever seen in his different types of. Things keeping him off of the court. I hope he just gets better, whether he's playing for us or some other team, finds a way to get out there and ball in the NBA. But Sam Presley is the guy making the final decision on that. On Thunder Digest, we're going to be breaking down the game that we have later here tonight. We're going to be breaking down Jared McCain, Thomas Sorber, their deals getting picked up, their roles on the team in the future. And as always, I thank you guys for watching all the way through this video. I hope to catch you in my next video. This has been Gabriel Eversol for Thunder Digest. And until next time, peace and love. My friend.