Thomas Sorber, Oklahoma City Thunder's No. 15 pick, will miss his rookie season after tearing an ACL in a workout. He sat out Summer League due to a prior foot injury from Georgetown, where he averaged 14.5 PPG and 8.5 RPG. The Thunder will lean on frontcourt veterans and growth candidates behind Holmgren and Topic as Sorber's development hits a setback.

Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Thomas Sorber tore his ACL in his right knee during a workout, ruling him out for the 2025-26 season. Sorber, Georgetown's 15th pick, posted impressive college numbers (14.5 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 2.4 APG) which hinted at two-way upside. Nikola Topic, the No. 12 pick in 2024, was recovering from ACL surgery when Sorber went down, marking a second straight season in which an OKC first-rounder misses the year. The setback reshapes the Thunder's frontcourt timeline and tightens the immediate fantasy outlook for OKC rookies.

The injury drama around Sorber—and Topic’s ongoing rehab—ups the ante on OKC's development plan and adds risk to early rookies in the Thunder pipeline. Fantasy managers should adjust expectations for upside bets, stay plugged into rehab progress, and reassess who might emerge as value picks once a timetable for Sorber's return becomes clearer.

Nikola Topić was cut from Serbia’s EuroBasket 2025 roster after training camp, despite making the preliminary squad and appearing in exhibition games. The Thunder guard logged a notable line against Cyprus (2 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds) as he wrapped the national-team run. Topić, 20, was a first-round pick in 2024 and is coming off ACL surgery, heading into his rookie season with Oklahoma City after showing playmaking potential in summer league.

The Serbia saga underscores his high-end upside as a lead guard-in-waiting for OKC, with Crvena zvezda roots and international experience fueling a versatile, pro-ready skill set. If healthy, Topić could quickly factor into OKC’s backcourt development as he learns the NBA pace and system, projecting as a player to watch for fantasy managers in deeper formats.

Serbia cut Nikola Topic from its EuroBasket 2025 roster after ACL rehab and a Summer League showing. Topic, 20, faced long odds in a guard-heavy 12-man mix that leans NBA/EuroLeague. Jokic, Bogdanovic, Jovic and Vukcevic anchor the squad as Topic pivots to his Thunder development path and backup-guard ascent in 2025–26.

EuroBasket runs Aug 27–Sept 14; Spain is the defending champ. Topic’s absence narrows a rush to pro minutes, but the setback could fuel late-season growth for OKC if he maximizes his return from injury.

Nikola Jokic is in Europe for EuroBasket, turning Serbia into one of the gold favorites as the calendar flips to late August. The tournament runs Aug. 27 through Sept. 14 across four groups of six, with Serbia headline Group A alongside Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Portugal, and Turkey. Serbia’s path should be manageable, but the 24-team field is deep, demanding top-tier performances from Jokic and a cohort of EuroLeague veterans and NBA role players to survive the round-robin and the knockout grind. Courtside 1891 and FIBA YouTube will carry the action, giving fantasy enthusiasts a steady stream to monitor Jokic’s usage and his teammates’ rising impact.

Beyond Jokic, Serbia benefits from a staff deeply intertwined with the Nuggets—assistant coach Ognjen Stojakovic and athletic trainer Jason Miller are on Serbia’s sideline. The roster also features Jokic teammates and peers who could swing fantasy levers: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Nikola Jovic, and Nikola Topic join Jokic in shaping Serbia’s attack, while other European standouts and a newly added Nuggets presence add intrigue. The group stage introduces notable clashes—Latvia’s Kristaps Porzingis headlines a Group A that tests Serbia’s depth, and Turkey’s Alperen Sengun poses a direct Jokic-sized matchup, raising intriguing dynamic questions for fantasy managers tracking minutes, usage, and matchup-driven ceilings.

EuroBasket’s depth is built to test rosters and expose sleepers: Lauri Markkanen and Germany’s Franz Wagner anchor Group B; Giannis Antetokounmpo brings Greece’s star power in Group C alongside a younger Spain and rising Italians, with Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas squarely in the mix for Lithuania and New Orleans. The mix of NBA stars and Euro stars means daily fantasy managers should keep a close eye on minutes allocations, rest days, and the tactical emphasis each nation brings to the court. Jokic’s Serbian run is as much about preserving pace and health for Nuggets fans as it is about adding a high-variance, high-ceiling narrative to late-summer rosters.