Jared McCain Showing Worth, Nikola Topic Has a Timely Return for OKC Thunder Amid Losses

This Oklahoma City Thunder team is undergoing and has been undergoing injury turmoil.

Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso, Ajay Mitchell have all missed significant time this season, and even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has now missed the final five games heading into the NBA All-Star break.

It's led to a tough slate throughout January and into mid-February, but the team is still trucking along with the most wins in the NBA, of course leading the Western Conference with a 42-14 record despite the injury woes.

But even amid a 5-6 stretch in the past 11 games heading into the break, the Thunder has came upon some exciting happenings throughout this team.

Firstly, one of the craziest feats, if not the craziest, of the entire season—Nikola Topic making his NBA debut after a testicular cancer diagnosis just four months ago. Unbelievable grit and toughness and an even more unbelievable story.

A projected top-five draft pick back in 2024, Topic is now making his first NBA foot steps as he was sidelined his first year in the league due to an ACL tear. And, as we hope to see him progress, Oklahoma City could potentially need him on the floor as it still suffers from injuries across the roster.

He may not contribute right away, but head coach Mark Daigneault now having him in his arsenal is important in its own right. In 12 minutes in a loss against the Milwaukee Bucks last night, he didn't necessarily perform to an NBA level—but he didn't really need to, getting back on an NBA floor just four months after a cancer diagnoses shows his potential in itself.

And along with Topic's introduction was the arrival of Jared McCain recently right before the trade deadline.

Grabbed from the Philadelphia 76ers, McCain came in and has provided great value for this banged up Thunder team. Having 32 points and five threes across his first three games as a Thunder has displayed his ability to fit in this team, and the Oklahoma City fans have been more than receptive.

He's someone the Thunder needed and general manager Sam Presti sought that out knowing Daigneault would put him to good use as we've seen. McCain's seen 20-plus minutes in the past two games and played 14 in his first bout in Oklahoma City.

It may have felt like the second quarter of the first half of this season hasn't went the best for this team, but there should still great amounts of optimism for the reigning champions as the team continues to grow and heal.