The Oklahoma City Thunder took a surprising swing in the 2026 NBA Draft, holding onto their lone lottery pick and going with the best player available in towering center Aday Mara.
The Mara selection certainly makes sense on the surface. He was the best center in the draft, and his monstrous wingspan and shot-blocking pedigree grant him a solid projection long-term alongside Chet Holmgren. But there are also some major concerns.
His best offensive attribute is his passing out of the paint, but he has a lot of work to do in terms of polishing his interior scoring and rebounding acumen. He also has serious conditioning concerns— he only played 30 or more minutes four times during his final college season at Michigan.
The Thunder, moreover were able to bring Isaiah Hartenstein back on a team-friendly deal this offseason, and it seems like second-year center Thomas Sorber will get his shot as a rotational player before Oklahoma City makes their final decision on the future of the position.
But the Thunder still have a sure-fire lottery pick next season from the Los Angeles Clippers, and depending on where their ultimate draft slot is, the availability of a big man like Patrick Ngongba II could force them to reckon with their Mara selection before he's even played extensive NBA minutes.
Thunder will have a lottery pick in next year's draft— will they be looking to fortify the center position again?
Mara will certainly need time to develop into a rotation-worthy NBA player, and Oklahoma City certainly knew that when they took their swing on him at 12th overall. The distribution of minutes is a familiar problem for the Thunder, and they'll find a way to get him the reps he needs— whether that's in the G League or otherwise.
But as high as the ceiling is for Mara, the floor is also pretty low. How much will the Thunder truly know by the time his rookie season comes to an end? How much will they know about Sorber, who could make a shift to the four spot as he returns from the ACL tear that took away his rookie season?
Both of these will be major storylines to follow over the course of this upcoming campaign.
The Thunder have the luxury of excess draft capital, and they can afford multiple bites at the apple when it comes to finding their long-term center. In Bleacher Report's recent 2027 NBA Mock Draft, drawn up by Jonathan Wassermann, their selection of Ngongba at seventh overall is pretty easily justified.
Ngongba was one of the most promising young centers as a sophomore at Duke last season, and he presents a defensive skill-set that rivals Mara's in terms of consistency and athleticism.
But before they're going to take that type of swing, the Thunder need to have a clear picture of what they have in Sorber and Mara. Their selection of Mara was always a sort of 'luxury' move— they have the depth to give him the time he needs to develop under the right set of circumstances.
But it was also a risky selection: one that could show some pretty immediate downside if Mara's pitfalls get spread across his tape as a rookie. If the Thunder enter the 2027 NBA Draft with a top-10 pick, Ngongba (or another big man like Motiejus Krivas) could force them to reckon with their Mara selection sooner than they might have otherwise bargained for.
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