{"id":161787,"date":"2025-10-08T08:30:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T12:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=161787"},"modified":"2025-10-07T20:57:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T00:57:18","slug":"thunder-rookie-guard-benefits-from-the-nikola-topic-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/10\/08\/thunder-rookie-guard-benefits-from-the-nikola-topic-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"This Thunder Rookie Guard Benefits from the Nikola Topic Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

While they had a fair offseason, the Oklahoma City Thunder aren’t without problems. With the Nikola Topic<\/a> injury sending yet another change in OKC’s potential rotation, another Thunder rookie guard gets to shine in his stead.<\/p>\n

This is no other than Brooks Barnhizer<\/a>. The one who played hard as hell in his recent matchup with Cooper Flagg<\/a>. This just says a lot about his sudden rise to prominence, as Topic will be missing at least four to six weeks of action<\/a>. This is already the second injury that the Serbian guard is facing in his time with Oklahoma City. He is also the second Thunder rookie to miss the season opener due to surgery\/injury. The other is Thomas Sorber<\/a>, who was ruled out ahead of the Summer League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This Thunder Rookie Benefits from the Nikola Topic Injury<\/h2>\n

While this may hamper the progress for Topic, this is a big win for Barnhizer. After all, he is one of the two-way players who will be fighting for a standard contract<\/a> with the team. Now it is his time to make his presence felt even further.<\/p>\n

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Brooks Barnhizer is really the perfect Thunder player he's making every sinlge possession hard as hell for Cooper Flagg<\/p>\n

— \ud835\udc6a\ud835\udc90\ud835\udc8f\ud835\udc86 \ud83c\udf29 (@Three_Cone) October 7, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n