The Oklahoma City Thunder have been put in a terrible position this year. Fresh off a Western Conference Finals appearance (Game 7) and an NBA Championship the year prior, they have been dealing with a flurry of injuries. Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace are likely out for the year. Chet Holmgren is out for a couple of months. Someone needs to step up and help Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. That someone could be Aday Mara.
SGA is going to give the Thunder elite scoring every single night. That’s just his job. It would be his job even if nobody on the Thunder were hurt. But with all the injuries, he has to do even more. And players have to step up around him. Guys like Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain will, but OKC needs more than that.
Mara is just a rookie. But he can handle an increased offensive workload. He’s been slowly proving that, and on Saturday night, he showed off what he can do.
Aday Mara's offensive talent can help solve SGA conundrum
The Thunder took down the Washington Wizards on Saturday night. Despite all the injuries OKC has been dealing with, it’s still managed to maintain its place as one of the best teams in the league.
Washington has a better team this year than it has had in years past, but the Thunder still handled business. They earned a dominant 114-75 victory. And Mara got the second start of his young NBA career.
He made the most of his minutes. Playing alongside big man Isaiah Hartenstein, Mara looked like a guy the Thunder could definitely use a bit more consistently on the offensive end.
The 7-foot-3 rookie finished the night with 18 points (third-most on OKC behind SGA and McCain), eight rebounds, three assists, and three blocks. He shot 8-of-10 from the field, 1-of-1 from beyond the three-point arc, and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.
Mara can definitely score the ball. His height gives him an advantage every time he’s on the floor. I wrote about the possibility of OKC utilizing his offensive talent more about a week ago. And now, it looks like that idea is becoming reality.
Obviously, depending on a rookie to be one of your most consistent offensive performers isn’t an ideal situation. And other guys outside of Mara have to help pick up the slack behind SGA, too.
But if OKC is looking for options. If the Thunder are trying to seek out pathways to help fill in the gap in the scoring column (and in the offensive creation department) after SGA, Mara is the perfect candidate.
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