Aday Mara confident OKC will help him develop: 'One of the best [organizations] in NBA'
Towering over everybody else, Aday Mara’s potential is tantalizing. At 7-foot-3, he makes the rest of the NBA look smaller in comparison. It doesn’t take long to brainstorm what his size could do for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Especially since he looks like a toddler playing on a Little Tikes indoor hoop.
That said, it’s only taken five Summer League games to see Mara is a giant blob of clay. The Thunder will take on another developmental project as they hope he eventually sharpens out his technique on the court. As mystifying as his size is, he’ll need to figure out how to finish through contact and better his conditioning.
Of course, none of that should be a shocker. In the predraft process, those were Mara’s main concerns. Even with that, he was still viewed as a lottery pick. The Thunder materialized that with the No. 12 pick of the 2026 NBA draft. He helped Michigan bring home a national championship.
Joining the title contender, Mara has full confidence he can reach his NBA ceiling in OKC. The Thunder are one of the better developmental teams in the league. When you’re in a small market and a constant winner for nearly two decades, the draft is your lifeblood.
After Mara had his best Summer League outing yet in OKC’s 104-79 loss to the Golden State Warriors, he hopes he can replicate his 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists at the next level. The Thunder continue to double down on size with his addition. The hope is that he turns into Chet Holmgren’s next frontcourt partner.
“First of all, I’m in one of the best — if not the best — organizations in the NBA. They did great with all the young players that went there,” Mara said. “I’m excited. These couple of weeks have been great with everyone. I’m excited to get there this summer after Summer League to work to help the team as much as anything.”
We’ll see how Mara shakes out. You can’t teach his size, but he needs to improve on the margins. The 7-foot-3 center needs to play like one of the NBA’s tallest players. Given his mammoth build, think he has a safe floor to carve out a career. Whether or not he’s worth the lottery pick will depend on his play-finishing and motor.
Thankfully for Mara, the Thunder won’t depend on him for their success in his rookie season. Isaiah Hartenstein being re-upped to a new deal kinda showed that the 21-year-old is a long-term play. It’ll be interesting to see how he develops in the background in this upcoming season.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Aday Mara confident OKC will help him develop: ‘One of the best [organizations] in NBA’
