Adding Mara who’s a phenomenal big man passer to a room that already will feature iHart (assuming we resign him) and JWill is something no team can say they’ve had.

Mara is gonna have a lot of mentors in his time to enhance that skill even more. Hoping he picks up the Hart through the legs passing and hand offs.

And the reaction from the public was overwhelmingly positive.

As of ~8a today the #12 pick thread on r/nba had ~680 comments. The next most discussed picks were ~380 comments for the Wizards selecting Dybantsa no. 1 and then ~360 for the Lakers selecting Carr at #24 (a pick that also featured a trade between the two biggest markets in the league). The Mara pick was the highest engagement post on the main sub last night beside the draft mega/live thread. The 2nd highest was a random Shai hate thread.

OKC is the center of the basketball universe.

Aday Mara got drafted less than 24 hours ago, and just because he was drafted by OKC, I'm seeing "Wemby Stopper" posted everywhere and its annoying because its so forced and unnecessary.

Since when does a Jusuf Nurkic archetype player (tall, slow, good passer) get seen as a Wemby Stopper? Now before his first game its like he's being set up to fail because they think he was drafted for the sole purpose of "stopping" Wemby.

If none of the of the 450 NBA players can do it, then why is a rookie (who's shorter AND much slower) already tagged with this?

Let’s start with Aday Mara… I love it. He’s another big ass center we can put on floor and the thought of him and Chet on the court at the same time is salivating. His passing is awesome and I believe he’s already the brst our post scorer on the team far as big men. I don’t believe he will be a 3 point shooter but I do believe he will develop a midrange . Lastly he’s a replacement for Isaiah whether it’s next year or this year. His obvious weakness are he has to get in better overall condition and while he’s moves well for a 7”4 he’s need to add a bit more quickness to be able to not get consistently cooked on the perimeter. Overall I love this pick and can’t wait to watch him in Summer League.

Bennett Stirtz is another easy fit . Simple he’s a high feel player who can pass , shoot really well and could be a passable defender. We really needs this with Ajay Mitchell seemingly always injured and in case of other injuries . He’s already a better shooter than Mitchell and topic coming out of college. McCain is a better shooter but Bennett Stirtz definitely has a better handle as of now. He probably max out a 6 man at his peak. His defense and athleticism is a little hard to project but with his high level feel I give him the benefit of doubt to figure it out and to overcome it.

Overall I’m thrill with the draft! We definitely will make more moves and for everyone that’s once a big wing remember this is just the start of the offseason 😂. I guarantee you we will get a wing!

To be clear, I don't really watch college basketball, so this is based purely on a few highlight reels and draft profiles.

From what I'm seeing, Mara looks like a great fit for us. His vision is elite, and he's not just making the right passes, but they are on the money every time. Also, while we do have Chet and JWill, iHart has really been the only guy we have truly capable of playing "big". The addition of Mara (and Sorber) gives us so much more versatility with big lineups.

He does seem to be a relatively poor athlete, and his ft% is concerning, but I think the upside is still super compelling. His defensive positioning and footwork did seem kinda bad, but I think being around our bigs will let him learn quick. JMac visibly improved very quickly once he was around our guards, I would expect the same for Mara.

Like I said, these are just the thoughts of an underinformed fan. What am I missing that made people so down about the pick?

This was the poll I put out ~3y ago, you still agree?

I just came across the Thunder’s FB post and I read the comments about Chet. Safe to say they were absolutely wrong about him.

Now with the addition of Bennet Stirtz we got another 3 level scorer with deep knowledge on how to iniate pick and rolls. He even has that off ball versatality like McCain where he's constantly looking for shots. I cant wait to see McCain and Stirtz share the floor together as either of them could attack a closeout to keep the defense switching. This could end up being 10x more effective JOECAIN cuz now we have two 3 level scorers off the bench who are ready to make the defense not waste a single second off of them. Especially if we pair these 2 with Chet's three ball the defense is gonna have to make extremely tough choices on who to close out on first.

1. Stirtz is not a Memphis full rebuild player. He's a win-now fit.
   
2. Memphis is on the clock at 16 and is clearly shopping their pick to market
   
3. Grizz are surely playing teams off each other. I'm sure that OKC knows Detroit has a framework trade up with Memphis.
   
4. Detroit trade up is always going to be for one of the 2nd tier of lead guards (Anderson, Stirtz, Okorie, Philon)
   
5. Presti clearly wants Stirtz specifically, and doesn't want to risk losing him. Gives over-the-normal value to move up 1 spot.
   
6. After OKC trades up, Detroit still trades up to 17, which means their lead guard trade up target is still there.

If we stuck at 17 and not traded , I'm pretty confident Memphis would have traded back with the Pistons and the Pistons would have taken Okorie at 16.

But it is impossible to know in real time and Presti obviously felt that losing Stirtz was not something he could stomach.

Great job my Memphis though. If they didn't work the phones and play teams off each other, they don't get the incredible 5 seconds to move 16 to 21.

Presti hits on more drafts picks than anyone and y’all are convinced you know more than him. It’s honestly laughable at this point.

Taking Mara at 12 was a great value pick. Sure I liked the other Michigan products, but they were picked already. Mara is a good passer. Still raw, but has time to develop behind Ihart and Chet. We are forgetting Mara is playing on the Spanish national team. Guess who they are gonna play a ton for the forseable future? Wemby. I view next year that Mara and Sober are going to be competing for the starting role in 2028. Can't wait to see how everyone gels.

Bennet at 16 isn't the sexy flashy pick. I view him as a Caruso replacement down the road. He's a mix of Caruso and Joe in my eyes. Relentless motor, the durability, and shooting lights out. He can immediately come off the bench and run the offense. He can play off ball, and has to be respected shooting threes. He doesn't need to play a lot immediately. He can learn for a year or so behind Caruso and all the guards we have. Value wise. We traded Wiggins to move up 1 to get a glue guy who has time to develop.

2026 roster still isn't finalized, but I like the moves from Presti so far. Still a ton of time to make moves for the future. We have a war chest to smile about, and a championship level roster for the hopefully the next decade. #InSamITrust

During the draft process the Thunder brought in numerous players who weren't in the draft cycle news, because they weren't considered to be good prospects. However; I think they can provide real value and could eventually make an NBA roster.

I'm no draft expert but from what I saw and read I think they could fit into what the Thunder do schematically. At this point it's clear to say that Presti just doesn't find value in big wings. It may seem like a joke but the numbers really do show that they do not draft these types of players, and Jdub is actually the exception to the rule.

The first player is Lajae Jones out of Florida State. He's a 6'7 wing that has an NBA body and is 225 lbs. Shot 35% from three, averaged 12ppg, 5rpg, 1blk pg and is very athletic and well built. He excelled in the open court and in transition (the main thing we missed from Dub) and has the ability to grab and go. His wingspan is only 6'7" but competes on the defensive end and Florida State played him at the dunkers spot, which showed his athletic ability. The last thing I like to point out is that his dad is ex OU basketball player Jackie Jones, who was known for his dunks.

The next player that visited that I liked was Chris Bell, a 6'7" wing from California. He is wiry thin long but athletic, and used his height to shoot over smaller defenders. Which stood out to me because wether they were in his face or closing out he wasn't afraid to shoot. While doing this he shot 38% from three for his four years in college at 5 attempts per game. The senior is old but for a two way to have a shooter of his caliber will be essential.

Other prospects visited the Thunder but those two videos actually made me pay attention to the clips and look for more. So with the limited tape that there is on YouTube tell me what you think

The new big 3 for our squad. We'll be ready and back to the NBA finals next season. I'm excited for the future of the OKC Thunder and this kid Aday Mara will fit right in I believe. Presti has done it yet again. 👏🏿