[2026 NBA Draft] #12 Pick: Aday Mara (Michigan) – selected by Oklahoma City
They really let this guy go to OKC lmfao
there was next to zero chance OKC wasn’t going to have a great option at pick at #12
It was either Mara or Yaxel
It’s always a great time to get a Paul George trade update:
SGA JDub Sorber and Mara
Late first round lottery might be our lucky charm
steve ballmer will burn in hell
OKC trade tree in 2056 has four separate FMVP winners, two DPOYs, and GM for life Sam Presti owns 38 picks in the next seven years all traced back to the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander trade.
Definitely, but not because of basketball.
People were going to comment this no matter who they picked lol
Fr, I’m not that high on Mara… but that’s probably because I went to UCLA and am also stupid af
No. They commented this because their one glaring weakness was Chet v Wemby, and now they went and drafted a 7’4 dude who has size against Wemby in the post.
But slower than molasses sadly.
Bum teams are bums for a reason
Tbf this draft class is just so good that OKC was always gonna get someone good at 12
By bum team he’s talking about the Clippers who gave away all their picks.
What makes them bums? Who should have drafted him? Every single pick before him makes sense.
Thunder have a more singular focus and can afford to draft a guy who likely will top out at 25 minutes per game if he ends up being a good player.
Sorry to interrupt the fun of: “ oh my god what idiots how could they let this guy drop!!!! Just like when the Thunder got Perry Jones, arguably the most talented player in the draft and all the idiots allowed him to plummet and help KD!!!”
New Poku just dropped.
Aday looks like he ate Poku
Get my goat’s name off your fucking mouth 😞
Thunder haters are eating good with this pick. Literally the clunkiest and slowest big in the draft
Chet, you are saved.
The fuck he is. He needs to prove some shit after that game 7. But yeah, this helps
Totally unrelated but man I’m in OKC right now and this city is cool af! Lol
I’ve only visited twice but yeah it is a really cool city
Love how it’s so spread out. Really cool place IMO
Felt like a pretty cool mix of like old/countryish and modern. But im sure it’s different throughout the city. Anyways have a good one bro!
That’s probably the worst feature of a city, especially one where it’s hot as balls and the transit sucks.
Oh shit, glad your having a good time. There’s some amazing restaurants there
Went to Mickey mantles this evening! GAS
What kind of food are you looking for?
Check out Nic’s for a fkn solid oklahoma style onion burger! if you cant make it there, try out Tuckers!
Please go Mahogany. It’s the best steakhouse in OKC imo. Great atmosphere too, especially the downtown location. Not cheap but you get what you pay for with quality food and amazing service. Saw another comment suggest Cattleman’s. It is an old school vibe and has some history, but Mahogany is the best. Hit it up. You won’t regret it.
I was there in April for work. Made sure to get a ticket to see game two of OKC Suns for the playoffs, checked out a Comets game, got a burger at Bar Arbolada and bring some beer back to Wisconsin at Prairie Artisian!
Oh man, prairie is the best
I never seen so many sour beers at one brewery in my life. I was in heaven! I had the Heatwave that contained pineapple, mango, and habanero
Prairie is ooo good. Coop makes some good beers too
Got a nice OKC June storm to welcome you as well
Never been. What’s your favourite place in OKC so far?
Just got here today and I’m here for work so haven’t done much just yet. I did go to a killer steakhouse this evening called Mickey Mantle’s though. Peak food ngl
They can’t keep getting away with it!!!
He’s a slower Zach Edey with a Spanish passport. Slowest big in the draft by a mile. I’m not sure about this pick
Zach Edey is good
Zach edey dunked on wemby
You do realize unless you are talking about Zach edey being injured last year, when Zach edey has played he actually has been a good productive player, so I don’t think OKC would complain about that. I am confused with what you are trying to say, unless you think Zach edey is bad at basketball.
Yeah like…if you added healthy Edey to the Thunder they are back to back champions rn lol
And minus 50 pounds
He plays nothing like Edey. If you don’t know anything then you don’t need to comment.
March Marchness is made for people with short attention spans and limited times and he didn’t even watch that. If you saw any games the champs played in, you’d know Mara’s game is almost the polar opposite lol
It’s not even just March Madness. People see a white, not-one and done, big man on a loaded team and link the two. It’s the same as Edey being compared to Kaminsky before.
Wow the guy that’s 7’3 is the slowest big how shocking lmfao
Something no one would say if they watched a single Michigan game
Apart from the injuries Edey is amazing lmao what the fuck you’re talking about. If he’s Edey he’s an upgrade on IHart and that’s saying something
Yeah Edey is a game changer when he plays. Offensive and defensively.
He’s not Edey.
Who let OKC get the 7’3’’ center?!?
7’4 🤓☝️
7’5 in shoes actually
7’6 in heels?
7’8 in converse sky highs
16’1” on the shoulders of Wembayama
The biggest trench coat we’ve ever seen
35007’4” on a commercial airplane
I remember reading 7’4” before today as well. TV said 7’3” tonight though. So we’ll see when he’s next to Wemby
7’3 barefoot 7’4 in shoes
Either way, I’m too short to tell the difference
Teams really said, let’s get Wemby’s arch nemesis a better shot to countering him.
Between Mara, Sorber, Chet and Hart, they now have 24 fouls to give Wemby.
don’t forget j will
And caruso
Fuuuuuuuuuuck
How could we let this happen bro. They got the lost Gasol brother.
Age wise, better chance hes a lost Gasol son at this point man.
Why didn’t the Sonics trade up for him?
This mf
You can take our team, yeah, sure. But you will never take my dignity.
Diabolical
I hate how good the Thunder are at drafting
I get what you’re saying but this was a fairly obvious pick.
The glazing is unreal lol, picks the best pick available and it’s a stroke of genius
Yeah, people are dumb. What did you want other teams to do, draft Mara way too early when better prospects were on the board?
Newsflash, if they did that those better prospects would have fallen to the Thunder… Lmao
> draft Mara way too early when better prospects were on the board?
I mean, this is something that’s been straight up suggested in this sub and upvoted multiple times in the past days in this sub lol
These people aren’t thinking in terms of ‘each team is trying to do the best for themselves’, they are just being reactive to any okc move
This always happens with top teams. I remember in the NFL anytime the Chiefs drafted someone during their peak people reacted similarly
Especially skill players and 90% of the time they ended up being ass
I root for them to fuck up
we all cant be gifted 3 top 4 draft picks in a row
Ironic considering KD, Westbrook and Harden were 3 consecutive top4 picks.
The Thunder didn’t move up in each of those 3 years though.
We all can?
Not the Pistons! We only get 5th pick. (besides Cade)
Have the other teams tried not letting them draft so well?
long term replacement for hartenstein i assume
and his $20mil a year cheaper 😭
Sorber and Mara will battle next year to be the iHart replacement.
100% my thought, and different kinda defender to throw at Wemby.
Imagine this kid gonna pan out and they flip hartenstein for even more picks down the road lmao
I think this might signal Hart is gone tbh
Picking BPA on a stacked team isn’t proof of anything, so I hope this isn’t the case
No way we run out 2 rookie centers when trying to win a championship. I think it just makes it more likely we move on after this year
Presti apparently can keep getting away with it.
Haven’t even seen how he plays in the nba, wait like half a year and comment again (I do think he’ll be fine though)
What about Sorber
Him and sorbet will take harks place
Gotcha
There’s no way Hart is leaving. They will decline his option and resign him
Sorber-Hart and Chet-Mara lineups, or some variation. Dual twin tower lineups.
Why not both?
Mariachi music plays
Sorber a pf
THE WEMBY STOPPER
Keep throwing lanky 7 footers at him
Mara weighs more than Wemby haha
Finally a big that we don’t have to wait to put on weight.
Hey dude Chet has only been in the league 4 years. Surely he will put on weight soon
I like the idea of Mara and Sorber doubles on Wemby.
The way to stop a lanky 7’5” lanky guy is not to send a shorter lanky guy. You send a 7’ fatass like Joker, Embiid, or apparently Kat. Fortunately Mara is pretty chonky himself.
He is not lanky for how tall he is.
Mara, Yax, and Morez didn’t stop Cam Boozer. Mara by himself is not getting close to stopping Wemby.
Aday letting Chet be a jumbo 4 is a pretty good recipe, especially when both keep the floor spaced offensively
You can sure as hell expect that they are going to try and beef him up and train him to do it. Who knows if it’ll have any impact. Worst case he can be a guy to play 15-20 and give Wemby 6 hard fouls.
People are strawmanning with this Wemby stopper shit. Nobody’s stopping Wemby, but hockey-subbing 7 footers is a strategy that could really slow him down. Tall guys have issues running out of gas and Wemby certainly showed that in the finals. That’s his most obvious weakness and Presti is smart to attack it. I love the pick
He’s not a wemby stopper if anything he’s the opposite slow Tall bigs can’t guard Wemby, mobile wings usually guard him better
No one’s a Wemby stopper lmao. Even if Wemby played against himself he wouldn’t stop himself, just slow him down.
It gives OKC more options to defend him in different ways.
Yea, no singular guy is the answer. Combinations of different lineups and looks and physicality will be the solution. This guy sure doesn’t hurt, though.
Chet has his own support 7’5 center
Chet get ready to learn Mandarin buddy
(jk I still love you chetty wap)
I actually think he’d be kind of fucked against Wemby.
He’s got some slow feet. Wemby would cook him on the perimeter.
I don’t think this dude will be expected to be on the perimeter…at least I hope not
Bro they got a 7’1 PF and and a 7’3 Center good Lord
Not finna matter if they don’t send those mfs to the monks
They gotta be on the first plane to tibet by tomorrow I swear
I’m so happy as a Michigan and OKC fan. They’re playable together and it’ll be great on both ends.
Need both against Wemby lol
Remember when the age of bigs was dead?
Yes, but then we got the biggest. The largest.
They want to stop Wemby
As a Michigan fan and OKC hater… FUCK
Good good
Get ready to learn unethicalnese
As a Spaniard and OKC hater… I’m so sad
There’s probably a UCLA and Spurs fan who is loving it though
I love the pick even more now
SGA put the hit out on Chet
Yuuuup. Makes ihart more expendable now
Not for this season. All reports say he’s gonna come back.
Good point, but debatable. Unlikely Mara’s good enough to match iHart’s value right off the bat, but they likely view him as the long term answer through the course of the prime years of the OKC vs Spurs dynasty duels.
Front court with an average height of 7’3”
Size to fight size
let them fight
I don’t like this.
I do
Me neither!
Wemby already building up a fake rivalry with him
Dusty looked pissed lol
I think that was excitement, not anger
maybe
i took it like a jokey anger of him going to a conference rival
what would make him react like that? I don’t really follow the nba or the draft.
He’s not gonna play at all his rookie year, maybe like a quarter max per game. It’s an absolute center jam in OKC
Mara played for him and he’s probably upset he went to a conference rival
Are we fucking serious
OKC could have picked anyone on earth and these comments would be the same lol
They drafted their “Wemby stopper”
The sga Mara PNR will feed families
IHART gone?
Sam Vecenie said he expects us to bring him back and I think other reporters have echoed the same sentiment
I feel like that’d be a waste of your limited cap space now tho no? Maybe a one year deal to let Mara get going but IHART can def find a better deal for himself than that
Letting him go now to cut salary would be dumb. Presti isn’t doing that.
OKC needed size and he’s certainly got that.
Fuckkkk
Watch out Wemby
League has never been more cooked
Mara and Chet going to look like those inflatable dudes at the car dealerships out there together
He’s going to be really good for them. There are some Hawks fans that REALLY wanted him. Also if this means anything Hart?
Yikes. There goes that young man’s career
He’s boutta get big minutes once they get rid of hark
Red shirt year incoming
What’s going on with Sorber? Is he going to get some run next year?
Will miss summer league and play pre season likely some early time with the blue
they got their wemby stopper /s
Chet just lit a cigarette somewhere
they really gave us mara hahahahahahahahahha
Bucks might be draft winners if they take Ament
I love it fairs Presti got his guy without moving up
THEY CAN’T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS
What a pick for the thunder!
Yall Mara is not stoppin Wemby like that. Wemby needs someone more agile to stop him than a big tower like Mara
However… i do not know how many teams will score on Chet/mara
Haters don’t understand Morez was our guy the whole time lmao
Wemby stopper
He’s no De’Aaron Fox
Lmao no chance
Fuckkkkk 💔 anyone but them
Wemby vs Chet & Mara
Get in here fam!
LETS GOOO LOVE HE FELL TO US
Him and Chet will be a ridiculously tall, skinny, and white front court. Also good defensively.
OKC getting even better
i mean they have the 12th pick were they somehow gonna get worse lol
…So, what season ending injury is this guy going to have before the preseason? Every 1st rounder aside from JDub and Cason has been an out in what was supposed to be their inaugural season.
Imagine if this dude turns into a top 10 center? And OKC still has a treasure trove of picks. Disgusting. Thank god for the salary cap.
7’3 is the new 6’10 lol
You know the game is shifting again when the arguably best team in the game is loading up on 7 footers lmao. It’s like Shaq all over again. Hope he doesn’t get the OKC rookie curse.
Wembys new father
Count your days Chet
This allows Chet to play 4 full time.
Sorber will be 4
Chet will finally get his dream of playing like KD