The Oklahoma City Thunder selected Nikola Topic and Dillon Jones during the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft on Wednesday night.

The Thunder picked Topic at 12th. The Serbian guard was originally its only pick in the draft, but OKC traded back into the first round to land Weber State's Jones via the New York Knicks with the No. 26 pick.

After the draft, general manager Sam Presti and director of amateur evaluation Acie Law addressed the media.

Here are four takeaways from Law and Presti’s press conference:

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Thunder deciding ‘plan of action’ for Nikola Topic injury

A new NBA collective bargaining agreement established in 2023 allows the league to selectively share medical information based on high-profile prospects, rankings and team needs.

That same agreement was also the reason the Thunder felt comfortable selecting an injured player as their first draft pick.

Although Topic, who played in the Adriatic League during the 2023-24 season, has been dealing with an injury since January, the organization did not feel a need to hesitate.

“We’ve seen all the imaging,” Presti said. “Everything we’ve seen is something we’re comfortable with. Myself and Donnie Strack, our director of medical who has been here for 17 years now, traveled out to visit Nikola. He examined him and was able to spend time with him. … And now we’re going to sit down and kind of determine the plan of action for the injury.”

After initially hurting his left knee in January, Topic intended to return in the spring to finish out the rest of the EuroLeague season, but he re-injured the same knee in April and did not recover. Topic later received a partially torn ACL as his diagnosis.

His timetable to return is currently up in the air.

“We are going into this extremely optimistic with what it is that we’ve seen, and where I think we’ll be able to get to,” Presti said. “But our expectation is that he probably won’t be playing for us next season.”

But the Thunder has been in this position before and is prepared to undergo the process that eventually leads to the desired outcome.

After selecting forward Chet Holmgren at No. 2 in the 2022 NBA Draft, he suffered a Lisfranc foot injury after NBA Summer League and missed his entire rookie year. But for Holmgren, who averaged 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for the Thunder this season, the draft-to-redshirt plan worked.

Just like Holmgren, the organization plans to have Topic involved in the day-to-day things at the facility, but it also understands that the two players and the injuries are different.

“Our experience with Chet and the time we had to use with him during his first year was certainly a factor in the way we thought about this opportunity,” Presti said. “I think we learned some things from that instance, but they are totally different players, totally different situations, different ages.

“But I think our ability to look at that as an opportunity, probably gave us some confidence to make this decision.”

Topic won’t be playing in the NBA Summer League this year and most likely won’t see the floor during the 2023-24 season, but the Thunder is looking to make the transition as seamless as possible.

“When he gets here, he’ll be integrated into the time like any other player,” Presti said. “I think there are things that we have learned from Chet that should be able to help him get acclimated. He’ll be involved in everything that we do.”

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Acie Law says age isn’t an issue with Nikola Topic, the ‘youngest player in the draft’

Topic, nearly 19, was the youngest player in the 2024 NBA Draft, but that didn't deter the Thunder.

Instead, it was Topic's maturity that stood out.

The 6-foot-5, 201-pound guard turned pro when he was 16. However, the pressures of the league made him grow up quickly.

“The EuroLeague is men,” Law said. “They don’t want a young player to dominate their league and have success.”

After struggling during his first two years, Topic had finally found a rhythm as he navigated his third season with the Adriatic League. Through 18 games, he averaged 28.4 minutes, 15.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists and one steal.

Topic, who played 13 games with Mega before finishing out the season with Crvena zvezda, was eighth in the league in scoring, fifth in assists and scored 20 or more points in eight games during the 2023-24 season.

He was the Adriatic League Top Prospect Award winner last season and helped Crvena zvezda win the league title. Topic was also the MVP of the 2023 FIBA U18 European Championship after leading Serbia to the gold medal.

Although the guard had started to stand out statistically this season, OKC had already been watching.

“We’ve known Nikola a long time, even at the junior level,” Law said. “His playmaking and his IQ stand out right away, and we associate that skill set and that package with his size. You can see why he has been so dominant and had so much success.

“I just want to reiterate our excitement for him being here and getting him into the building and incorporating him in what we’re doing.”

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Presti ‘wouldn’t compare Nikola specifically to Josh’

As the Thunder said goodbye to former guard Josh Giddey in a recent trade with the Chicago Bulls for guard Alex Caruso, it was looking for someone to help fill his role.

Giddey, who is 6-foot-8 and 216 pounds, averaged 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game last season, and although Topic might not be an exact fit, he could definitely help.

“I wouldn’t compare Nikola specifically to Josh or to any other player in that way,” Presti said. “Guys that are big for their position and that process the game well, those guys can pretty much play all over the floor and at different combinations. So, we value those skill sets more than trying to replicate a specific role or anything like that.

“I don’t think you can have enough people who can make decisions on the court. And when you combine that with size, it definitely increases the effectiveness of those decisions being good.

For OKC the draft pick wasn’t based on the idea that Topic could be a hypothetical replacement for Giddey, but instead, it was based on his tangible skill set.

“We generally go off who we think are the best players,” Presti said. “In this particular case, I think one of the reasons we were in a position to acquire him is because of the injury and the fact that he wasn’t as available to work out. But we are placing a high value on his skill set, long term.”

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Presti couldn't yet ‘talk about the trade’ regarding surprising Dillon Jones’ pick

The Thunder’s last-minute trade at the end of the first round of the NBA Draft was surprising. Since the league office hadn't finalized the deal until late Wednesday night, after Presti's press conference, NBA rules required the Thunder GM had to choose his carefully.

“I can’t talk about the trade that we made until it goes through,” Presti said. “So I will do my best to talk around it where I can. But you just have to understand that I can’t answer those questions directly.”

Jones, who was projected as a potential second-round pick, was chosen by OKC in exchange for reportedly five second-round picks spanning from 2025-27. The 6-foot-6, 235-pound small forward was the Big Sky Conference MVP and was the only player in the NCAA to lead a conference in points, rebounds and assists. He was also one of two players to average 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists per game this season.

Despite not being able to talk about Jones specifically, the general manager did address the overall theme of draft night.

“If you looked at the night as a whole, I think the themes are pretty consistent,” Presti said. “I think tonight there’s high processing on offense, high skill level with regards to vision and passing and that’s combined with big players.

“It is people who can handle the ball and are pretty big for their position or are interchangeable. So, I think that it’s a relatively consistent focus for us, and it’s something that we value in players.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: What OKC Thunder's Sam Presti, Acie Law said about 2024 NBA Draft