Aday Mara has come a long way in just a few short months with the OKC Thunder. From kicking off his tenure by being voted the “most disappointing rookie” who participated in Summer League and predictions that he wouldn’t even be a rotation player in the NBA until next year, to now being compared to legends like Pau Gasol, it seems the rookie’s league-wide status has taken a 180 turn.
Now, after posting a stellar regular-season debut against Victor Wembanyama, of all people, it seems it may prove to be rather hard for the Thunder to keep the 7-foot-3 behemoth off the floor this year. This sentiment may have just been strengthened by fellow big man Isaiah Hartenstein’s recent assessment of league-wide trends. When discussing the league’s current state of play, the veteran noted that it seems to be shifting away from prioritizing players who primarily space the floor and toward emphasizing players who can “play inside” and are “able to create actions.” He would continue by noting that he believes lineups featuring “double-bigs” are starting to make a comeback.
Needless to say, if this is truly the case, there should be no scenario where someone of Mara’s build and style of play doesn’t see ample minutes throughout his debut season in the States. Though perhaps once seen as an uphill battle, what with the likes of Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, and Jaylin Williams all ahead of him in the OKC center pecking order, the league and, subsequently, the Thunder shifting toward more double-big lineups should only stand to benefit Mara’s quest to claim significant playing time in the long run.
Hartenstein couldn’t help but praise the play of the rookie pivot during his Thursday practice media session, gushing over his swift transition from international and Summer League play to actual regular-season NBA action, and even went as far as to say he believes Mara’s already playing at “mid-season form.” The rookie’s performance on opening night clearly backs up such a remark from I-Hart. While he may have only played 12 minutes in OKC’s 116-104 revenge win over San Antonio, Mara proved to be truly impactful both from a counting stats and sheer intimidation standpoint, as he finished the night with seven points, two rebounds, and a block while boasting a stellar 107.7 defensive rating and visibly forcing the Spurs to shy away from attacking the lane. In one-on-one matchups with Wembanyama, the Thunder youngster showcased his potential to live up to his draft-day hype of being branded a “Wemby stopper” by personally holding the Spurs star to 0-for-4 shooting from the field and pulling off an emphatic rejection against him at the rim.
Now, Mara finds himself slated for yet another rough individual matchup in just his second game with the Thunder, as Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets will be coming to town on Thursday night. Though he may have managed to shine bright in his debut against a wunderkind big like Wembanyama, it’ll be interesting to see how he fares against arguably the best player at his respective position.
