Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade has signed a four-year deal with teenage star Nikola Topic, the club confirmed on Monday. Topic (1.98 meters, 17 years old), who spent the past three years in Zvezda's youth system, has had three brief appearances in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague – one in the 2021-22 season and two during the 2022-23 campaign for a total of 10:23 minutes – but he is yet to score a point in the competition. He spent the second half of last season on loan at Serbian League side OKK Belgrade. Now, Topic, the son of former Zvezda player and coach Milenko Topic, has signed his first professional contract and committed himself to the club for the foreseeable future.
Zvezda invests in the future with ANGT star Nikola Topic
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An ANGT star
This past May, Topic was voted to the All-Tournament Team at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals, where in three games he posted 30.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.0 steals for an average PIR of 39.3. Earlier last season, Topic received the Most Valuable Player award at the ANGT Belgrade event, having posted 26.8 points while shooting 52.9% on three-pointers and going 32-of-33 on free throws (97.0%). He also averaged 3.8 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 2.0 steals for an average PIR of 33.5. During that tournament, Topic tied the ANGT all-time single-game scoring record with 49 points and tied for third all-time highest PIR mark with a rating of 65 in Zvezda’s group-stage win over NGT Belgrade.
An exciting summer for Zvezda
No club has been more active than Zvezda so far this summer, with the club having announced nine signings before that of Topic. There is a real buzz around what the Belgrade-based team could achieve in next year's EuroLeague, and Topic will now have the opportunity to learn alongside the likes of Shabazz Napier, Yago Dos Santos and Milos Teodosic on a day-by-day basis. Zvezda's potential star of the future is in a great situation to continue his development.