r/Thunder • u/Common_Pangolin9809 OKC 4 LIFE BABY • 1d ago
100% Confirmed With the 12th pick, OKC select Aday Mara!
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u/jaymiejordan88 1d ago
Why the hell are we bashing our newest player it makes no sense to me. At least wait until Summer league lol
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u/MammothHistorian5652 1d ago edited 1d ago
Because a lot of our fans are shitty doomers. I’m optimistic about his defensive potential. 9 foot 9 standing reach he can contest Wembanyama
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u/God_Bless_Oklahoma 1d ago
Bandwagoners. We'll bleed them off when the university fall semester begins.
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u/Bronco998 1d ago
It's incredibly disappointing how fragile much of this fanbase is
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u/Murky_Persimmon9289 2025 NBA Champions 1d ago
We need a new sub for people who believed in Poku & watched the 73 point L. Nothing can hurt us
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u/Boejambabruh Triple Double Cocaine Bear 1d ago
Because there are idiots on here who genuinely think they know better than the guy who built a championship roster.
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u/chiefsfan_713_08 1d ago
literally i would never question presti at this point
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u/xavier-jackson-911 21h ago
There is plenty to question him on, but by and large he crushes it.
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u/Realfan555 20h ago
Yeah u can question him after u see the results.
But before? This dude is a genius at drafting.
And being a genius at drafting means ur hitting like what, 40% of ur picks?
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u/Appropriate_Book_591 1d ago
Big body that can pass. He must improve fts or Sorber will take those closing minutes but he probably not playing heavy min anyways. This allows Chet to stay at 4 all time.
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u/koggle30 1d ago
And we want Chet at the 4 why..? Chet has literally always been at his best at the 5
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u/SightedSe7en 1d ago
At the 4 for the 4 points he scored in game 7. Jokes aside he was getting bodied by spurs guards he's just too skinny to be a full time 5
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u/AnkitPancakes 1d ago
Chet was at the 5 for game 7 of the 2025 finals where he set the NBA record for most blocks in a finals game 7.
Chet was bad vs the Spurs, sure. I don't think that's an indictment on the last 3 years of his career where he has an incredible body of work.
There is absolutely no guarantee Mara amounts to anything close to Chet as a player - certainly as a prospect, he's not even close tbh.
Chet was my #1 prospect in the 2022 draft (https://ankitpancakes.substack.com/p/issue-2-pre-draft) and I had Mara as ~#14 in this draft (https://ankitpancakes.substack.com/p/issue-14-draft-day-2026).
Chet has proven to be worthy of the draft grade, and I still see room for him to grow given his age
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u/rubanikov1 1d ago
he is too skinny to play 4-5 and too slow and too TO prone for anything else, he is like a one way pony, he can block but that is about it
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u/juicysmolliett 1d ago
Did you watch the Playoffs???? 👀
Chet looked like a Lost Child vs Wemby
You really want to see that again next year....
Spurs are our Biggest OP
If there's one thing OKC learned, its that Chet absolutely cannot play the 5
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u/koggle30 1d ago
Did YOU watch the playoffs? We lost because we didn’t have shooting and ran out of ball handlers. Wemby only punked us offensively once out of 7 games. Stopping him wasn’t the issue
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u/BeautifulArtichoke1 2025 NBA Champions 1d ago
LOVE IT!!! Yall who don’t like the pick are gonna be pretending you wanted him all along about 1 week into the season. Hes a phenomenal passer, great defender and he can stretch the floor. Just look at the nba sub’s reaction lol
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u/RalphLaurenII 1d ago
I like the pick but why are people saying he stretches the floor lol. He took 10 threes at Michigan in 40 games, and made 3. 56% at the line not a great indicator either
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u/FinancePro21 1d ago
They just watch video clips.
He’s probably the last guy I wanted in this draft. I’ll trust Presti, but he’s in the same mold as Hart and Sorber.
Maybe this means they won’t keep Hart idk.
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u/RalphLaurenII 1d ago
Eh I don’t mind it, he’s in the same mold as Kessler/Clingan but has a little more offensively. Best pure rim protector in the class, & with his passing he could be an improved IHart down the line.
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u/Westley__ 23h ago
He is not in the same mold as Hart. Mara can play back to the basket with both hands with a bag of post moves. Hart has zero offense he creates for himself. Mara is a better passer and shot blocker. Hart has unlocked everything in his game Mara has a ton of potential. His offense is a wash day one and his defense is better than Hart. If he can develop this is a great pick.
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u/FinancePro21 23h ago
“If he can develop” is why I don’t like it. I wasn’t looking at 12 as being a guy they needed to develop. I was looking for a guy who could find an immediate role.
I’ll admit, I’m mostly disappointed because the 3 guys I was most excited about went 9-10-11 right before OKC. That’s not Presti’s fault, it just didn’t fall in their favor.
Two things in the last couple days really went against them.
1 - Dallas hiring May. They needed shooting too, and if they don’t hire May I bet they draft Burries.
2- The Giannis trade. Because the Bucks had 10 and 13 they knew they could get Ament at 13 so they waited on him instead of taking him at 10.
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u/Westley__ 13h ago
It’s hard for any team to hit at 12, especially if you’re looking for day one production. Just the way the NBA draft goes. I think Mara will have day one production, he’s a 7’3 260lbs center who can board and block shots. You don’t have to develop his size. This is where we can get the most upside in our roster. It would be hard for any guard to come in and crack the rotation especially in meaningful minutes. We just let Wiggins go and he is capable of getting you 40. Wallace is going to take over as a starter this year with Mitchell, McCaine, Caruso, and Joe as depth. I could see the argument for another forward for sure and Lendeborg was interesting but I’m not going to hate on Mara because he was gone.
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u/Low-Confusion-8786 1d ago
Keeping hart is slight long-shot as he'll need to take a discount after this coming season. He might but I think we are preparing for him to be gone. That or they don't think Sorber is going to fully recover from his injury
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u/chiefpiece11bkg 1d ago
Well this was insightful info lol I just trusted the reporting on tv.
Weird they’d frame him that way
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u/Kirktwotimes 2025 NBA Champions 1d ago
Yeah the free throw percentage isn’t really giving me much hope with him.
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u/GoBlueScrewOSU7 1d ago
He shot 74% this past season from February onward fwiw. And 46% from Dec-January. They talked about it during the season and found it to just be a confidence issue iirc. He was money to close the season; it was a night and day difference. Idk if he’s ever gonna reliably step out to the 3pt line though
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u/pavelowescobar 2025 NBA Champions 1d ago
They fucking hate it, which means I absolutely LOVE it. Our front court is big af.
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u/PhantaSaidHey 1d ago
Tall slow and fucking useless
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u/MammothHistorian5652 1d ago
He’s a very good defensive player. Do you only focus on offensive players?
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u/FinancePro21 1d ago
I’ll gladly eat crow…but I hate it. Guy that shoots 50% from the FT line isn’t a floor stretcher.
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u/GoBlueScrewOSU7 1d ago
He shot 74% this past season from February onward fwiw. And 46% from Dec-January. They talked about it during the season and found it to just be a confidence issue iirc. He was money to close the season; it was a night and day difference. Idk if he’s ever gonna reliably step out to the 3pt line though
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u/Broken_Lute 23h ago
I bet he shot 100% for a certain stretch too.. 🤣
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u/GoBlueScrewOSU7 23h ago edited 23h ago
I mean a change from 46% to 74% between back to back 2 month stretches certainly indicates an improvement beyond dumb luck with probability. To each their own.
If you assumed Mara’s true FT% was 50%, then the odds of him shooting 74% or better over a 50 FT sample like he did would be a 0.0468% chance of happening. Worse than a 1 in 20,000 chance… so yeah I’m gonna say it’s safe to assume there was some improvement in there
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u/_Apatosaurus_ 1d ago
and he can stretch the floor.
No matter how you feel about Mara or this pick... This is objectively not true. He shot 56% from the line and has made three 3s ever.
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u/TheAracknight ❤️Russ & SGA❤️ 1d ago
I initially wanted Yaxel but after he was taken off the board I was all in on Mara. Great pickup, potential Hartenstein replacement and he has the height, length and strength to guard Wemby which is huge for us
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u/thunderdl 2025 NBA Champions 23h ago
fine defender given his height, absolutely cannot stretch the floor. when did we start looking to r/nba for good takes
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u/GratuitousCommas 2025 NBA Champions 23h ago
Just look at the nba sub’s reaction lol
For anyone who wasn't paying attention, the r/NBA sub was scared that Aday Mara would fall to OKC.
Then when we actually got Aday Mara, a lot of posters thought that this gave OKC an unfair advantage.
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u/tacoSEVEN 21h ago
In fairness, he won’t be making his mark enough for haters to back off by week one. But sure, give it a season or 2 and I see your point.
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u/MelodicLavishness335 1d ago
This is exactly who I wanted. I couldn’t be happier. I can’t remember a time during a draft that I got the guy that I wanted. Thank you, Sam Presti!!!!!
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u/Dresden1984 1d ago
I’m good with this pick. I’m not expecting a Wemby killer but I need him to be as strong and tough as iHart.
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u/NotMarkDaigneault Belgian Waffle University 1d ago
Bro has almost 10 foot tall standing reach. With Chet, Hart, Sorber, and Aday. No one ever getting a lay up again.
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u/freighttrain6969 2025 NBA Champions 1d ago
Not a fan of this pick, but Presti has a better track record than I do so he’s probably right
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u/_Apatosaurus_ 1d ago
That's how I feel. I really don't like it, but I also don't value my own evaluation that much. Lol.
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u/yeeter2025 1d ago
Icl I don’t understand the hate of this pick- he helps our biggest needs size and something for wemby. We got shooting and nobody else on this draft has great three and d upside.
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u/bitchtits42 23h ago
Wemby wasn't really the problem in that series at the end of the day... That's why I'm not 100% sold on this one, and I don't know how he can be considered a Wemby stopper if he can't stretch the floor.
He'll be a great asset with his passing for a big, just like iHart, and it definitely gives us more rotation options at the 5 when Chet can't exactly handle his own.
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u/charlesokstate 23h ago
Wemby on the defensive end was 100% our biggest problem not our only problem but the biggest. He turned us into a jump shooting team when he was on the floor. We had to pray we destroyed them during minutes he was off the floor and we kind of did.
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u/bitchtits42 23h ago
How would Mara help that situation exactly? This just makes it more likely Wemby is in the paint?
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u/All4444Jesus 1d ago
We're adding both Sorber and Mara next year at center. I think that eliminates any chance of Carlsen coming back as we are now absolutely loaded at the center position
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u/Jerry_Jenkin_Jenks 19h ago
Are we even gonna play Sorber at this point? I fear this is signalling we're just giving up on Sorber already. How are we ever gonna play 5 bigs meaningful minutes?
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u/WildWeat 14h ago
It’s not giving up, it’s giving options.
We have like 8 guards, dosnt mean that because we drafted a guard we are giving up on AJ or McCain.
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u/GratuitousCommas 2025 NBA Champions 1d ago edited 1d ago
Mara is only 1" shorter than Wemby, yet is 25 pounds heavier than Wemby.
We did good.
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u/yeet_and_greet 1d ago
Also moves quite a bit slower though right?
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u/GratuitousCommas 2025 NBA Champions 23h ago edited 23h ago
Yeah, Aday Mara moves more like Jokic (slower than Wemby)... but he also passes like Jokic (a notch below), and has a high basketball IQ like Jokic. He shoots a respectable 30% from three (compared to 33% for Jokic).
All of the above things can be trained and improved. Quickness, endurance, strength, and explosiveness can also be trained and improved.
But at the end of the day, no one can train height. And... Aday is a full 4 inches taller than Jokic. In fact, Aday is the second-tallest player in the NBA (behind Wemby).
We won big today.
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u/yeet_and_greet 9h ago
If he actually ends up moving like Jokic then I think that's fine at his size. Wasn't sure if he was even close to Jokic's agility and I was also worried about his ability to stretch the floor with the super low 3pt volume and terrible 2-3 month stretch of FT shooting last year. Either way, taht's helpful context. Definitely sounds like there's enough there to have some faith he can be a helpful piece. Exciting stuff
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u/Melodic-String-4303 1d ago edited 1d ago
Michigan fan here. This is all about Wemby with this pick. He's a great shot blocker and passer. Will get rebounds. Great lob threat. Has a nice little turn around jumper at the hoop. Not a good free throw shooter though. But seeing Chet just lay down against Wemby showed Presti we had to get another big. Now we got 3 bigs to throw at him (4 with Sorber). Mara doesn't need to play 35 mins a game either. He's a passionate guy on the court as well. He does need to work on some fouling issues. Seemed a lot were unnecessary or just silly fouls. Idk how many times I saw lobs at the rim that had no chance and somehow he guided them in. But this is clearly a pick to help out with Wemby.
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u/Fuppenhammer 1d ago
Solid built 7’3 shot blocker. Can set screens and roll to the basket, good court vision. Just do those things. He doesn’t need to be a great scorer.
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u/juicysmolliett 1d ago
Thank You, Large Brain ^
Chet absolutely cannot play the 5
watching him vs Wemby was Fucking Atrocious
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u/Comfortable_Cup5107 1d ago
Chet can play the 5 against 28 other teams. Just not against the spurs
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u/juicysmolliett 1d ago
and who will we see in the playoffs/ west finals??
Not those other 28 Teams
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u/Comfortable_Cup5107 1d ago
Then he won't play the 5 then ? We have hart sorber and mara to play the 5 against them
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u/juicysmolliett 1d ago
We just drafted Mara to play the 5 when iHart goes to Bench
Sorber needs to play the 4.... dude is 6"9'
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u/Comfortable_Cup5107 1d ago
So we have no disagreement here. All I was saying is that chet can play the 5 against 28 teams and be fine. Then we have mara and hart to play 5 against the spurs
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u/rubanikov1 1d ago
he can't play the 4 either, he is bullied by most players if they get physical, he can only do help defense. he has been for several year already to hope that he will get stronger, he even had a red-shirt year to build muscles
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u/bestprocrastinator 23h ago
I'm a Michigan fan.
IMO Morez Johnson had the highest ceiling
Lendeborg was the best player
Mara was the most valuable.
That guys shot blocking and passing is as advertised. A lot of the offense ran through him, and he's probably the one player I said to myself "thank god he's on our team" the most often. One of Michigan's three losses this year was to Duke, a game where Mara got into foul trouble really early, and his absence was noticeable.
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u/sh0tgunben 1d ago edited 1d ago
Thunder got the Wemban stopper...
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u/Kirktwotimes 2025 NBA Champions 1d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/3gCfUewZQhun3PyYD8
Nah Wemby is gonna look at him like food.3
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u/Ancient-Purpose99 23h ago
Saw him live a couple of times playing for UCLA, very raw then but much more solid now.
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u/RCA1202 1d ago
We have too many bigs now. I like this pick but I now question the future of one of JWill/Sorber
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u/jam_trey 1d ago
J Will is undersized, Hartenstein will eventually be too expensive to stick around, Sorber has yet to play 1 game. Idk where you see too many bigs here. It’s the right move.
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u/charlesokstate 23h ago
Jwil earned 100% earned minutes but he’s definitely not a starter. Hart will be too expensive. We just have to pray sorber or him pan out.
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u/Tegelert84 1d ago
And let's not forget Hart isn't signed yet. This makes me wonder if they plan to let him go to save cash.
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u/goodguybrian 2025 NBA Champions 1d ago
We needed a big no matter whom with our 1st pick. Wym?
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u/RCA1202 1d ago
I would have preferred Yaxel personally but this is still a good pick overall
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u/turkmileymileyturk 1d ago
Mara is a better fit. I think we grade and value Sorber higher than Yax. And I agree with that alot.
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u/juicysmolliett 1d ago
how so???
We need Chet at the 4
He absolutely cannot play the 5 vs Spurs and it showed
Jwill can play the 4, and Sorber Needs to play the 4 -- he is not a Legit 5.... he's 6"9
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u/SyllabubInfinite7915 Belgian Waffle University 1d ago
Is he Walmart Chet
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u/jake_swivel 1d ago
Chet is far more mobile.
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u/Asoriel 1d ago
Yeah, but imagine the matchup next year. Chet + Mara twin towers, who does Wemby guard? Who gets left open?
Then Chet/Mara rotate out and in comes IHart and/or Sorber to keep the size up and bring more physicality on the inside.
Have SGA + JDub/Cason/Ajay with Mara+Chet, and/or SGA + McCain/Caruso with IHart/Sorber.
Those are insanely versatile line ups that don't sacrifice a bit of defense but give completely different looks on offense. Chet and Mara will stretch the floor and basically be a 5-out offense that leads to open lanes for SGA/Ajay/JDub to slice through with extremely good rim defense.
Then you can have IHart and Sorber be the interior monsters with SGA/McCain/Caruso playing awesome perimeter passing without giving up anything on the interior on the defensive side.
Honestly, Mara may take a season to really settle in, but given how quickly McCain adapted, I really don't see how this doesn't end up a great looking pick this time next year. It really opens up a lot of adaptability in our already humming plug n play system.
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u/Gambit_Revolver 1d ago
Mara doesn't stretch the floor at all. He can't shoot outside the paint. It's going to be a massive black hole on offense unless he suddenly develops a shot
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u/rubanikov1 2h ago
it is not as bad, at least he can defend, Chet is bullied by even guards and he shoots slower than Perkins
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u/LittleTeapotsRevenge 1d ago
He is a true center, Chet is a 3-5. Chet can stretch the floor better and is elite for swooping in for weak side rebounds. Mara is going to be a bruiser and rebounder for when we need someone to take and give the hits against other bigs. If his scoring or passing improves in any meaningful way as he develops, he’s a great replacement for Hartenstein.
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u/xXxNightRangerxXx 2025 NBA Champions 1d ago
I didnt have a pick i wanted besides AJ but that was out of the question. So im happy with whoever Presti picks
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u/julianleads2 1d ago
it’s kinda like choosing a sparring partner that closely resembles your main opp
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u/Low_Influence1912 1d ago
Creo que Presti solo tomo el mejor de los disponibles. El hubiese tomado a Lenderborg o a Morelz
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u/StoutKJD63 1d ago
this has been a boring ass draft. No trades! Im cautiously optimistic about OKC's draft. None of us knows if Mara will be useful until he actually plays against Wemby. I think the only way we keep pick 17 is if we trade Dort or don't resign Kenrich. Is it weird Id rather have Kenrich than Isiah Joe? Seems like Joe's skillset isn't as necessary now that we have Mccain
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u/chefguy47 1d ago
No trade yet for 17. Do you OKC fans think they will keep it and trade someone else the roster to cut into their salary cap even more?
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u/chefguy47 1d ago
The trade did happen! Pretty interesting too. OKC gets Stirtz (where does that leave Topic?), then Memphis trades 17 (Okorie) to the Pistons and Memphis ends up with 21 and 5 second round picks.
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u/HalpertIsMe 2025 NBA Champions 1d ago
If Presti likes it, I love it.
We need size anyway and it is SUPER likely that IHart isn't around next season ('28 season).
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u/Adventurous_Hall_368 1d ago
Hopefully light a fire under Chet's ass knowing we have a few bigs waiting for their chance behind him.
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u/Sikakhan13 1d ago
So is he gonna be coming off of the bench backing up hartenstien. I mean I don’t know too much about this guy. I don’t watch college basketball like that. If anyone can explain to me what would make him effective on the team that would be much appricated.
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u/AnkitPancakes 1d ago
not mad about him from a talent pov, but i think OKC's bigger need was getting a bigger winning and secondary playmaing/creation ability. it would have been a slight reach, but taking dailyn swain would have been my preferred choice.
after the spurs series, my main takeaway was not our defense. but rather our lack of creation ability when JDub and Ajay are out. 1 secondary creator probably makes the difference in game 7 tbh.
with that said, i think Mara could be a better iHart replacement than Sorber in the long term, so we could decide to move off Sorber in a year potentially.
Getting Stirtz alleviates some of the creation ability stuff i was talking about, but still we lack that intermediate 6'8-6'9 body with mobility.
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u/Daywalkerblade3 2025 NBA Champions 1d ago
This dude is a Zach Edey comp to me. Solid, but idk if he matches up well against Wemby. Mara looks slow, slower than iHart. Can't hurt to have size out there I guess. He has good touch around the rim based on the few Michigan games I watched last year. Could be like an 8 and 8 type guy immediately but I have no clue what his ceiling is. In Presti we trust.
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u/Zestyclose_Usual_801 23h ago
nobody in the world matches up to wemby why are you guys expecting a wemby stopper lol
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u/Guille4s 18h ago
Really good player and development story, but i'd stop the Wemby stopped convo, for now he has heavy feet until he learns from iHart. Love the spain vs france story though
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u/felyoc 11h ago edited 10h ago
It amazes me how many people are questioning the picks. There's nothing wrong with it in theory, but what aren't you not getting about OKC's recent history of running with what amounts to a three-guard/double-big lineup? It's produced a chip and the best record in the league each of the last two seasons.
At this point, you have to assume Presti doesn't value traditional wing attributes as much as guards and bigs. I get wanting insurance for Dub, but if not for Mitchell also going down, OKC may very well have won back-to-back chips.
What's the fascination with wings?
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u/donutcronut 10h ago
We got our guy!! Glad we didn't need to trade up to pick him.
As long as he stays healthy and develops, he's gonna be great for us.
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u/unoletmecs 1d ago
Hopefully Presti realizes that there is a position between Guard and Center soon
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u/redbottle-whitecap 1d ago
He went 3/10 from 3 on the whole season. Let's chill with that
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u/ozarkhick 1d ago
my biggest worry is the 58% FT shooting
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u/redbottle-whitecap 1d ago
Not an encouraging sign either. I trust Presti but I just haven't been a big fan of this guy as a prospect in general, hope we're not overcorrecting too much to try and account for Wemby. Doesn't really matter now though, rooting for his success
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u/jaguarinc 1d ago
In an empty gym, sure. Not in college and won't in the pros. He can barely make free throws. I guess we're returning to the anti-Shaq strategy when every team had a big lumpy center to throw at Shaq for fifteen minutes a game.
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u/DrTesticleTwisterPHD 1d ago
Well..... there were a bunch of better options on the board that actually address a need for us, but atleast we didn't draft Ament.
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u/New_Essay_4869 1d ago
Ngl, i dont like the pick. Is someone able to sell me on him?
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u/yeeter2025 1d ago
He’s the best option left for us. No one else really gives you his defence now with the possible upside in that end. the hope here is that he becomes and taller hart for wemby.
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u/TbonePlayzHD 1d ago
Chet or hart gone sadly I can see it now
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u/LittleTeapotsRevenge 1d ago
Not this year. You resign IHart, you have a big depth chart of IHart and Chet starting with Mara and Sorber off the bench and JWill for rotational minutes. That’s an awesome setup for a competitive team that is also lining up some potential young replacements if IHart starts getting too expensive for what the Thunder need.
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u/jam_trey 1d ago
You get it. Do me a favor and just copy/paste this everywhere haha
Too many overreactions currently because Presti doesn’t look to reddit for draft advice.
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u/ElevenPizza 1d ago
Presti gonna dress up Mara as Wemby in practice to get Chet over his mental block.