Projected top-10 pick Nikola Topic avoided a serious injury after a scary incident during the Adriatic League finals, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reports (Twitter link).
Topic suffered a non-contact injury, with an initial diagnosis of a sprained left knee that will likely rule him out for the remainder of the Adriatic League tournament. However, he should be a full participant in NBA pre-draft activities in June, Givony adds. The Serbian point guard is currently ranked No. 5 on ESPN’s Best Available list.
We have more draft-related tidbits:
- How will the top five picks shake out now that the lottery is behind us? The Athletic’s trio of Kelly Iko, Josh Robbins and James Edwards III put their heads together and took educated guesses on that topic. They have 7’1” Alexandre Sarr going No. 1 to the Hawks, wing Zaccharie Risacher at No. 2 to the Wizards and forward Matas Buzelis heading to the Rockets.
- The combine is going on full tilt and Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report shares his early observations on Donovan Clingan, Sarr, Zach Edey, Reed Sheppard, Dalton Knecht and several other top prospects. Bronny James, Edey and Devin Carter were among the prospects who stood out on Monday, the first day of the combine, according to ESPN’s Insiders.
- Speaking of LeBron James‘ son, Bronny is focused on getting to the NBA but not necessarily to play with his father, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic tweets (video link). “My dream has always just been to put my name out, make a name for myself, and, of course, get to the NBA. Which is what everyone’s end goal is here. I’ve never thought about playing with my dad, but of course he’s brought it up a couple of times,” he said.