Zvezda's sports director compares Thompkins to a Ferrari, shares Topic's status / News - Basketnews.com

Zvezda's sports director, Milan Dozet, said Thompkins was like a Ferrari that was hit on the highway - the only question remains whether he can drive 300 km/h anymore or not. Dozet said Nikola Topic has started running and practicing, and his return should come relatively soon.

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As the eternal rivalry awaits in the Serbian Cup, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade's sports director, Milan Dozet, opened up about the current matters in the organization.

Points this season

46%82,0Points made:82,0Accuracy:45,7%Place in standings:8Record max:98Record min:58Best scorer:Nemanja NedovicTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

One of the club's brightest stars, Nikola Topic, is currently sidelined with a left knee injury. Initially projected to be out for 4-6 weeks in early January, the youngster is still not on the court.

Projected by some to go in the Top 5 of the upcoming 2024 NBA Draft, Topic is viewed as one of the best prospects in his class. Despite the injury, his draft stock did not fall.

"With what is predicted for Nikola Topic at the next NBA draft, he should be one of the most promising basketball players in the world. His injury... The doctors can certainly talk more about that, as they don't like to make predictions about returning to the court. We hope to see him at games soon," Dozet said in an interview with Stefan Lazarevic from Telegraf. "His recovery is going well. He is at the stage where he has already started running, he is also practicing a little bit. He is continuing with his rehab."

Recently, Crvena Zvezda signed Trey Thompkins to strengthen the roster at the power forward position. Some reports in Serbia stated that the 33-year-old had failed his medical test, but ultimately, the former Real Madrid forward was signed.

The signing raised some eyebrows, as Thompkins hadn't played an official game since the end of the 2022-23 season. Others noted that the signing was a reflection of the current state of the free agency market.

Dozet used a colorful metaphor regarding Thompkins.

"Trey is someone who played for Real Madrid for seven years and is undeniably of great quality and is already a proven name at the EuroLeague level, someone who's been tested, and yet someone who was out of the game for a certain period due to his health problems, Dozet began.

Nikola Topic

MIN:15.38PTS:3.5 (44.44%)REB:1.5As:3.5ST:0.5BL:0TO:1GM:2ProfileEuroLeague2023/2024

"We often joked when we talked about his analysis that it's not disputed at all whether he is a Ferrari, but a Ferrari that got hit a little on the highway, and the only question is whether he will be able to continue driving 300 per hour or not," the sports director said. "He's completely healthy now, but we are very careful to introduce him to practices to reach a certain desired level of form before we include him in the match system."

Thompkins signed only a one-month contract with the club. It was done out of caution, the executive says.

"Simply, the club wants to protect itself. The EuroLeague regulations say that a one-month contract can be signed twice. After that, it must be signed until the end of the season, so after the period he had, I think it is quite logical to protect the club in that way. On the other hand, it's not at all controversial, neither from our side nor from his side. If everything goes well, that contract will be extended until the end of the season, and even beyond, as both sides hope," Dozet concluded.

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