Projected top-10 NBA draft pick Nikola Topic has a partially torn ACL, his agent, Misko Raznatovic, confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.
Topic is currently at the NBA draft combine in Treviso, Italy, where he went through the NBA's medical examination, which included imaging.
Topic suffered a left knee injury in January shortly after his midseason transfer from Mega MIS to Red Star Belgrade, missing four months of Adriatic League action. He returned in late April, playing three games before reinjuring the same knee in Game 1 of the Adriatic League playoff finals.
Topic will travel to the U.S. in the coming days and will be evaluated by NBA team doctors who will decide on the next course of action regarding surgery and a plan moving forward.
Raznatovic told ESPN he does not expect the injury to have a major impact on Topic's draft stock because of his youth and initial feedback from U.S. doctors who have reviewed his MRIs.
"The doctors who checked the stability of the knee confirmed that is in excellent shape," Raznatovic told ESPN.
Topic's medical will now be dispersed to teams picking in the top-15 portion of the draft according to new rules that were put in place in the NBA's collective bargaining agreement signed in 2023.
Prior to his injury, Topic was ranked as high as the No. 4 prospect in the 2024 NBA draft because of his combination of size at 6-foot-7, playmaking ability and feel for the game, as well as the fact that he's the youngest player projected to be drafted in the first round, giving him a high ceiling as an NBA point guard.
Topic averaged 18.6 points and 6.9 assists shooting 65% from 2-point range, 29% for 3 and 85% from the free throw line at Mega MIS.
The NBA draft will be held over two days in New York City on June 26 and 27. The first round will be conducted at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, followed by the second round the next day at ESPN's studio in lower Manhattan.
Jonathan Givony is an NBA draft expert and the founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service utilized by NBA, NCAA and international teams.