2026 NBA draft: Aday Mara reacts to joining OKC Thunder, plus more
· Yahoo Sports
Injecting some youth into their roster, the Oklahoma City Thunder beefed up their frontcourt for the foreseeable future. They selected Michigan's Aday Mara with the No. 12 pick of the 2026 NBA draft.
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Mara was viewed as a lottery pick for most of the year. He averaged 12.1 points on 66.8% shooting, 6.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.6 blocks this past season at Michigan. He helped the Wolverines bring home a national championship. The 21-year-old is a 7-foot-3, 260-pound center.
If these past NBA playoffs taught us anything, it's that you need size to reach your ultimate goal of a Larry O'Brien trophy. The Thunder tripled-downed on that with Mara's addition — who joins a jam-packed room with Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Thomas Sorber.
Enjoying the first day of his NBA home, Mara talked to the media at Brooklyn's Round 1 event. Here's everything he had to say about his arrival in OKC:
On helping Thunder against the Spurs:
"That's exciting. Obviously, after winning the championship with Michigan, you want more. So it's great to be in a contender team like OKC. But excited. Excited to be there to start working and help the team as much as I can."
On being billed as a 'Wemby Stopper':
"Obviously, it's not a bad thing to hear. I think it's going to take time for adjustment, but I'm excited. I'm excited to play against him. Obviously, to play in the NBA. But I feel like I'm going to play against him a lot. If it's not NBA, it's going to be on the national team. So I'm excited get ready to play against him."
On joining OKC:
"Well, first of all, I'm super happy to be in this organization. If they are there, it's because of something they did do something well. So I'm excited to get there and adjust to the league, to practices, to life, NBA life. But I think it's going to be great playing against top players every day. That's going to help me a lot. So I can't wait to get there tomorrow and just meet everyone."
On representing Spain in the NBA:
"It means a lot. It's an honor to represent my country. Obviously, you get into a list with really good names, I'm happy for that, too. I think it's great for Spanish basketball. I'm just super happy that I got to the list of being with those players and getting drafted high. Obviously, it's important, but I don't think it's how high you can go or not. It's just the team, the program, so that's why I'm really excited to be with OKC because I think it's a great program. But yeah, I'm happy."
On playing alongside Holmgren:
"I think being able to play with Chet, I think we can play together, and I think that can be great for the team just in talking about rim protection."
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: 2026 NBA draft: Aday Mara reacts to joining OKC Thunder, plus more