“I didn’t do anything with OKC. I just did the interview at the combine.” Aday Mara said that after the Oklahoma City Thunder took him with the No. 12 pick of the 2026 NBA draft. He called the lack of contact “a little surprising.”
The 21-year-old center spoke to local media once the Thunder introduced him. Most of his predraft dealings, he said, ran through his agent. “Not really. I didn’t have a lot of contact with them. It was more of an agent thing,” Mara said. “But I’m happy to be in this program.”
He thought the combine interview went “really, really good,” which is why the pick caught him off guard. Mock drafts had commonly placed him in the lottery, and OKC among the likely landing spots.
From UCLA to a title
Mara spent two so-so years at UCLA, then transferred to Michigan and bounced back. The Wolverines won the national championship this past season. He played in a frontcourt with Morez Johnson Jr. and Yaxel Lendeborg that helped the team to a 37-3 record. The 7-foot-3 Mara anchored the defense, and opposing scorers thought twice about driving at the rim.
What the Thunder expect
Oklahoma City hopes he can help extend its championship window. Writers at OKC Thunder Wire see him eventually replacing Isaiah Hartenstein and teaming with Chet Holmgren in a double-big pairing later this decade. With supporting pieces set to change this summer, the Thunder will lean on him and others to restock the end of the bench.
Mara will spend about nine months a year in Oklahoma City, and he has already scouted the surroundings. “Last year, I was fishing with a couple of teammates for example. I know they have a couple of lakes here. So hopefully I can do the same here,” he said. “I like to play golf. Hopefully, they have courses.”
