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Patiently waiting to be on the clock, the Oklahoma City Thunder fortified their frontcourt at the 2026 NBA draft. They selected Michigan’s Aday Mara with the No. 12 pick. The 7-foot-3 center backs up the team-building philosophy that helped them win one NBA championship and almost another.
Mara beefs up the Thunder’s center room. He’s a stylistic throwback. He averaged 12.1 points on 66.8% shooting, 6.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.6 blocks with the Wolverines last year. He helped them bring home a national championship — alongside frontcourt partners Morez Johnson Jr. and Yaxel Lendeborg.

Now, Mara hopes to complement Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. The seven-foot behemoth casts a shadow over most NBA players. Only a handful are taller than him — most notably, Victor Wembanyama. The Thunder will be in playoff battles with the San Antonio Spurs for the foreseeable future. You need serious size and rim protection to best them.
Mara helps out in both departments. He should be another high-end rim protector for the Thunder. Albeit in a different way. He won’t be quick and nimble on his feet like Holmgren, but his stature will have opposing players second-guess their drives to the rim. He will take up a lot of space in the halfcourt as just a paint roamer.
Sporting a Thunder hat, Mara was all smiles about playing with the league-best defense and Holmgren. They both have contrasting defensive styles, but could complement each other extremely well — like peanut butter and chocolate on a Reese’s.
“I think being able to play with Chet, I think we can play together, and I think that can be great for the team just in talking about rim protection,” Mara said. “But obviously, defense in my game these first years, I feel is going to be super important. So I’m looking forward to get there and just know how they play, how they do so I can just adjust to the team and be as good as I can the first year.”

On offense, Mara will be OKC’s best play-finisher. In maybe ever? He’s the tallest player the Thunder have ever had. His sheer size will make putbacks and second-chance points look like a kid playing on a Little Tikes hoop. He should be an excellent rim-runner, barring an improvement on his catch radius. That completely changes the dimensions of their halfcourt offense.
A lot of novelty will surround Mara for his first year and beyond. Just from his size, he’ll stand out on the court. But if everything clicks for the 21-year-old, he could be a long-term piece for the Thunder as they try to bring home another Larry O’Brien trophy with a championship window that is completely wide open.
Not many teams can say they have two of the best shot-blockers in the league. The Thunder are banking on that to eventually materialize.
“I think just trying to do whatever the coach says, trying to help the team as much as I can,” Mara said. “And just try to get better and better every year or every month or whatever.”
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Aday Mara all smiles over fit with Chet Holmgren: ‘We can play together’
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