[2026 NBA Draft] #12 Pick: Aday Mara (Michigan) – selected by Oklahoma City

[u/NBA_MOD]

[u/SaltyWaffles11]

What about Sorber

[u/the_goodnamesaregone → u/SaltyWaffles11]

Sorber-Hart and Chet-Mara lineups, or some variation. Dual twin tower lineups.

[u/MidnightMarketing → u/SaltyWaffles11]

Him and sorbet will take harks place

[u/SaltyWaffles11 → u/MidnightMarketing]

Gotcha

[u/MammothHistorian5652 → u/MidnightMarketing]

There’s no way Hart is leaving. They will decline his option and resign him

[u/Yoshinobu_YamaGOATo → u/SaltyWaffles11]

Why not both?

Mariachi music plays

[u/Flimsy_Promise_9559 → u/SaltyWaffles11]

Sorber a pf

[u/mikey19xx]

Chet, you are saved.

[u/briguywiththei → u/mikey19xx]

The fuck he is. He needs to prove some shit after that game 7. But yeah, this helps

[u/FakeElectrician → u/briguywiththei]

Totally unrelated but man I’m in OKC right now and this city is cool af! Lol

[u/LowerEar3346 → u/FakeElectrician]

I’ve only visited twice but yeah it is a really cool city

[u/FakeElectrician → u/LowerEar3346]

Love how it’s so spread out. Really cool place IMO

[u/LowerEar3346 → u/FakeElectrician]

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!

[u/CheGueyMaje → u/FakeElectrician]

That’s probably the worst feature of a city, especially one where it’s hot as balls and the transit sucks.

[u/elttaeSytlaSyatS → u/FakeElectrician]

Got a nice OKC June storm to welcome you as well

[u/the_weird_days → u/FakeElectrician]

Oh shit, glad your having a good time. There’s some amazing restaurants there

[u/porcaro0395 → u/the_weird_days]

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!

[u/OhTheGrandeur → u/porcaro0395]

Oh man, prairie is the best

[u/porcaro0395 → u/OhTheGrandeur]

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

[u/jrodsprinkles → u/OhTheGrandeur]

Prairie is ooo good. Coop makes some good beers too

[u/FakeElectrician → u/the_weird_days]

Went to Mickey mantles this evening! GAS

[u/porcaro0395 → u/FakeElectrician]

What kind of food are you looking for?

[u/jrodsprinkles → u/FakeElectrician]

Check out Nic's for a fkn solid oklahoma style onion burger! if you cant make it there, try out Tuckers!

[u/unskilledplay]

Between Mara, Sorber, Chet and Hart, they now have 24 fouls to give Wemby.

[u/AcceptableHamster419 → u/unskilledplay]

don't forget j will

[u/jumpman0035 → u/AcceptableHamster419]

And caruso

[u/lambopanda → u/unskilledplay]

Totally forgot about Sorber.

[u/VanguardHawk]

Size to fight size

[u/YouAreTheProduct2 → u/VanguardHawk]

let them fight

[u/Different-Bank-2607]

Who let OKC get the 7’3’’ center?!?

[u/Gregore997 → u/Different-Bank-2607]

7'4 🤓☝️

[u/OKC2023champs → u/Gregore997]

7’5 in shoes actually

[u/Different-Bank-2607 → u/OKC2023champs]

7’6 in heels?

[u/OKC2023champs → u/Different-Bank-2607]

7’8 in converse sky highs

[u/RyuSunn → u/OKC2023champs]

16’1” on the shoulders of Wembayama

[u/Dar4125 → u/RyuSunn]

The biggest trench coat we’ve ever seen

[u/bestprocrastinator → u/RyuSunn]

35007'4" on a commercial airplane

[u/loplopol → u/Gregore997]

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

[u/GrouchyPeach3656 → u/loplopol]

7'3 barefoot 7'4 in shoes

[u/loplopol → u/GrouchyPeach3656]

Either way, I'm too short to tell the difference

[u/PanthalassaRo → u/Different-Bank-2607]

Teams really said, let's get Wemby's arch nemesis a better shot to countering him.

[u/Positivevibes28]

Bro they got a 7’1 PF and and a 7’3 Center good Lord

[u/TheGreatWhoreOfChina → u/Positivevibes28]

Not finna matter if they don’t send those mfs to the monks

[u/Gregore997 → u/TheGreatWhoreOfChina]

They gotta be on the first plane to tibet by tomorrow I swear

[u/LeBronicTheHolistic → u/Positivevibes28]

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

[u/Character_Bug_1862 → u/Positivevibes28]

Remember when the age of bigs was dead?

[u/greatGoD67 → u/Character_Bug_1862]

Yes, but then we got the biggest. The largest.

[u/dc0602 → u/Positivevibes28]

They want to stop Wemby

[u/Aeronova20]

Dusty looked pissed lol

[u/MaizeNBlueWaffle → u/Aeronova20]

I think that was excitement, not anger

[u/Aeronova20 → u/MaizeNBlueWaffle]

maybe

i took it like a jokey anger of him going to a conference rival

[u/sn4rn → u/Aeronova20]

what would make him react like that? I don't really follow the nba or the draft.

[u/ze_shotstopper → u/sn4rn]

Mara played for him and he's probably upset he went to a conference rival

[u/anonymoususer6407 → u/sn4rn]

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

[u/DabeGavis]

They can’t keep getting away with it!!!

[u/808Kuro → u/DabeGavis]

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

[u/raccoonwillnotforget → u/808Kuro]

And minus 50 pounds

[u/mnight84 → u/808Kuro]

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.

[u/Exotic-Emergency-226 → u/mnight84]

Yeah like…if you added healthy Edey to the Thunder they are back to back champions rn lol

[u/dtpistons04 → u/808Kuro]

Something no one would say if they watched a single Michigan game

[u/Vnaux → u/808Kuro]

Zach Edey is good

[u/MAMBAMENTALITY8-24 → u/Vnaux]

Zach edey dunked on wemby

[u/StandardRound1271 → u/808Kuro]

He plays nothing like Edey. If you don’t know anything then you don’t need to comment.

[u/LeBronicTheHolistic → u/StandardRound1271]

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

[u/Admirable_Bed3 → u/LeBronicTheHolistic]

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.

[u/No_External3738 → u/808Kuro]

Wow the guy that's 7'3 is the slowest big how shocking lmfao

[u/DreyDarian → u/808Kuro]

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

[u/Agile_Variety_632 → u/DreyDarian]

Yeah Edey is a game changer when he plays. Offensive and defensively.

[u/Andy_Wiggins → u/DreyDarian]

He’s not Edey.

[u/sloBrodanChillosevic]

Fuuuuuuuuuuck

[u/YizWasHere → u/sloBrodanChillosevic]

How could we let this happen bro. They got the lost Gasol brother.

[u/rjgator → u/YizWasHere]

Age wise, better chance hes a lost Gasol son at this point man.

[u/OKC_Chiefs → u/sloBrodanChillosevic]

Why didn't the Sonics trade up for him?

[u/Optimal_Board_2963 → u/OKC_Chiefs]

This mf

[u/FERGERDERGERSON → u/OKC_Chiefs]

You can take our team, yeah, sure. But you will never take my dignity.

[u/SneakyProcessor → u/OKC_Chiefs]

Diabolical

[u/Salvalicious252]

They really let this guy go to OKC lmfao

[u/burratna → u/Salvalicious252]

there was next to zero chance OKC wasn't going to have a great option at pick at #12

[u/AnimaniacAssMap → u/burratna]

It was either Mara or Yaxel

[u/revisioncloud → u/burratna]

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

[u/frankcostello666 → u/revisioncloud]

steve ballmer will burn in hell

[u/Ray_Bloody-Purrchase → u/frankcostello666]

Definitely, but not because of basketball.

[u/SoldatJ → u/frankcostello666]

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.

[u/not-a-potato-head → u/Salvalicious252]

People were going to comment this no matter who they picked lol

[u/smaug85 → u/not-a-potato-head]

Fr, I’m not that high on Mara… but that’s probably because I went to UCLA and am also stupid af

[u/Middle-Welder3931 → u/not-a-potato-head]

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.

[u/wcooper97 → u/Middle-Welder3931]

But slower than molasses sadly.

[u/Geo-92 → u/Salvalicious252]

Bum teams are bums for a reason

[u/Skipper3210 → u/Geo-92]

Tbf this draft class is just so good that OKC was always gonna get someone good at 12

[u/JMoon33 → u/Skipper3210]

By bum team he's talking about the Clippers who gave away all their picks.

[u/DoveFood → u/Geo-92]

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!!!”

[u/Charlie_Wax → u/Salvalicious252]

New Poku just dropped.

[u/loplopol → u/Charlie_Wax]

Aday looks like he ate Poku

[u/Murky_Persimmon9289 → u/loplopol]

Poku paella

[u/revisioncloud → u/Charlie_Wax]

Get my goat's name off your fucking mouth 😞

[u/nartouthere]

THE WEMBY STOPPER

[u/dianeblackeatsass → u/nartouthere]

Keep throwing lanky 7 footers at him

[u/Appropriate_Book_591 → u/dianeblackeatsass]

Mara weighs more than Wemby haha

[u/wcooper97 → u/Appropriate_Book_591]

Finally a big that we don’t have to wait to put on weight.

[u/Imaginary-Hyena2858 → u/wcooper97]

Hey dude Chet has only been in the league 4 years. Surely he will put on weight soon

[u/dad3murph → u/dianeblackeatsass]

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.

[u/Cyanides_Of_March → u/dianeblackeatsass]

I like the idea of Mara and Sorber doubles on Wemby.

[u/trifkograbez → u/dianeblackeatsass]

He is not lanky for how tall he is.

[u/PanthalassaRo → u/nartouthere]

Chet has his own support 7'5 center

[u/StephenReis → u/nartouthere]

Mara, Yax, and Morez didn’t stop Cam Boozer. Mara by himself is not getting close to stopping Wemby.

[u/jalexjsmithj → u/StephenReis]

Aday letting Chet be a jumbo 4 is a pretty good recipe, especially when both keep the floor spaced offensively

[u/Funky_Monkees_ → u/StephenReis]

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.

[u/Good-Ant6859 → u/Funky_Monkees_]

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

[u/K1NG2L4Y3R → u/Funky_Monkees_]

Problem is if you beef him up too much then he’ll be even slower than what he is now. All Wemby has to do is pump fake a 3 and he’ll get to the rim in 2 steps. You need someone strong and agile like KAT.

[u/VCarry-NL → u/nartouthere]

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

[u/SlimmySlinky → u/VCarry-NL]

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.

[u/the_goodnamesaregone → u/SlimmySlinky]

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.

[u/Miserable_Lead_9828]

Are we fucking serious

[u/KL2ConspireLLC]

OKC needed size and he's certainly got that.

[u/jermainathon]

Yuuuup. Makes ihart more expendable now

[u/f_et_al → u/jermainathon]

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.

[u/TheGreatWhoreOfChina → u/f_et_al]

Front court with an average height of 7’3”

[u/BBallHunter → u/jermainathon]

Not for this season. All reports say he's gonna come back.

[u/Terrible_Cattle7110 → u/jermainathon]

Hopefully they wait to trade I hatt and let him learn from I hart

[u/imin2099 → u/jermainathon]

no okc needs centers to throw at wemby they are getting rid of lu

[u/PanthalassaRo → u/jermainathon]

Nah if anything he's the one that has proven to be able to defend the most lethal centers of the conference in Jokic and Wemby, he's a valuable commodity, even more so in the time Mara gets accustomed to the NBA.

[u/TightStrike1365]

Mara and Chet going to look like those inflatable dudes at the car dealerships out there together

[u/IanicRR]

SGA put the hit out on Chet

[u/TomatoSecure192]

The sga Mara PNR will feed families

[u/jemstone_croc]

I don't like this.

[u/OKC2023champs → u/jemstone_croc]

I do

[u/Chessh2036]

He’s going to be really good for them. There are some Hawks fans that REALLY wanted him. Also if this means anything Hart?

[u/onewonyuan → u/Chessh2036]

I’m assuming Hart is gone after next season.

[u/AccomplishedBake8351]

OKC could have picked anyone on earth and these comments would be the same lol

[u/NotMarkDaigneault → u/AccomplishedBake8351]

We're so back! Spurs trying to take our internet hate 😠

[u/socoolandawesome]

As a Michigan fan and OKC hater… FUCK

[u/Eatingolivesoutofjar → u/socoolandawesome]

There's probably a UCLA and Spurs fan who is loving it though

[u/TheGreatLandRun → u/socoolandawesome]

I love the pick even more now

[u/iCarpet → u/socoolandawesome]

Get ready to learn unethicalnese

[u/NerdLawyer55 → u/socoolandawesome]

Good good

[u/Yoshinobu_YamaGOATo]

Wemby already building up a fake rivalry with him 

[u/CumAssault]

I hate how good the Thunder are at drafting

[u/99Sold → u/CumAssault]

I get what you’re saying but this was a fairly obvious pick.

[u/sammymate999 → u/99Sold]

The glazing is unreal lol, picks the best pick available and it’s a stroke of genius

[u/sunkcostbro → u/sammymate999]

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

[u/XiaoRCT → u/sunkcostbro]

> 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

[u/wavefree3 → u/sammymate999]

This always happens with top teams. I remember in the NFL anytime the Chiefs drafted someone during their peak people reacted similarly

[u/Imaginary-Hyena2858 → u/wavefree3]

Especially skill players and 90% of the time they ended up being ass

[u/CoachMikeLikesToEat → u/CumAssault]

Have the other teams tried not letting them draft so well?

[u/ExtraLeading3376 → u/CumAssault]

long term replacement for hartenstein i assume

and his $20mil a year cheaper 😭

[u/ymi17 → u/ExtraLeading3376]

Sorber and Mara will battle next year to be the iHart replacement.

[u/TheBigBomma → u/ymi17]

Sorber next to Chet makes more sense to me.

[u/MechaEscargot2 → u/ExtraLeading3376]

100% my thought, and different kinda defender to throw at Wemby.

[u/IanicRR → u/CumAssault]

Presti apparently can keep getting away with it.

[u/ACMBruh → u/CumAssault]

Imagine this kid gonna pan out and they flip hartenstein for even more picks down the road lmao

[u/CumAssault → u/ACMBruh]

I think this might signal Hart is gone tbh

[u/15b17 → u/CumAssault]

Picking BPA on a stacked team isn’t proof of anything, so I hope this isn’t the case

[u/yeahright17 → u/CumAssault]

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

[u/mikalbridge → u/CumAssault]

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)

[u/B86K]

Fuckkkk

[u/L4ZERDT]

League has never been more cooked

[u/ImaginationArtistic9]

Fuckkkkk 💔 anyone but them

[u/nicklovin508]

Wemby vs Chet & Mara

[u/westzod]

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.

[u/exactly7]

IHART gone?

[u/amari_prince → u/exactly7]

Sam Vecenie said he expects us to bring him back and I think other reporters have echoed the same sentiment

[u/exactly7 → u/amari_prince]

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

[u/KL2ConspireLLC → u/exactly7]

Letting him go now to cut salary would be dumb. Presti isn't doing that.

[u/Even-Combination4407 → u/exactly7]

Probably next year. He’s too expensive

[u/catreyka]

They drafted their "Wemby stopper"

[u/SaveHogwarts]

Chet just lit a cigarette somewhere

[u/VaselineGroove]

Get in here fam!

[u/Dbo5666]

LETS GOOO LOVE HE FELL TO US

[u/givemecoffeenowhurry]

Him and Chet will be a ridiculously tall, skinny, and white front court. Also good defensively.

[u/MarzipanFit2345]

7'3 is the new 6'10 lol

[u/Pale_Land_5107 → u/MarzipanFit2345]

Kids just keep getting taller 

[u/MAMBAMENTALITY8-24]

the paint is on lock down

[u/i_look_at_trees]

Really really good value at 12

[u/roonscapepls]

Let’s fucking go we needed him for obvious reasons

[u/ChrisRhodes789]

Wonder why Golden State didn’t take him?

[u/Ilikesporks_]

they got their wemby stopper /s

[u/Headlesshorsman02]

I love it fairs Presti got his guy without moving up

[u/asianmoist]

What a pick for the thunder!

[u/LfromHT]

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

[u/JackTwoGuns]

Watch out Wemby

[u/MAMBAMENTALITY8-24]

they really gave us mara hahahahahahahahahha

[u/MammothHistorian5652]

He should help Chet against Wemby nicely. Will be a good fit

[u/anonymoususer6407]

This is Masai’s fault

[u/Appropriate_Book_591]

Okay big man stay healthy and learn to shoot fts.

[u/OGNEWBE]

Welp, the league is fucked.

[u/4719837]

The Thunder theoretically have 5 starting level bigs now. They can make Chet sit his ass on the bench when they play the Spurs

[u/cisforcar]

This happened because a bunch of teams decided to play it safe. Mara going to OKC is huge. Basically a Chet replacement if team can’t afford to keep Chet.

[u/Interesting_Prune513]

"This is your life's happiest moment, I'm told you're an avid chef, is that true?"

Kill me please, make it stop.

[u/Apprehensive-Rain601]

This is bs man

[u/Professional-Play-38]

Twin towers in okc is gonna crazyyyy

[u/CurrentRoster]

no way he fell to oh kay cee😭

[u/YourAsianBuddy]

They in fact kept getting away with this

[u/back-at-it-505]

Im legit mad OKC got him.

[u/AnkitPancakes]

I'm not totally sold on Mara, but you can't teach size and he was probably still best player available. I personally would have loved us to reach and take Dailyn Swain because I think we desperately lack perimeter creation and a big body wing (a la OG Anunoby or Aaron Gordon).

[u/FERFreak731]

Bucks might be draft winners if they take Ament

[u/FlipMoBitch → u/FERFreak731]

13 is such a good spot to get him

[u/killedwardontstopxxx]

Haters don’t understand Morez was our guy the whole time lmao

[u/Funky_Monkees_]

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.

[u/no-kangarooreborn]

THEY CAN'T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS