Oklahoma City is attempting to flush out its roster and ensure sustainability for this title-contending team. The team is only growing more expensive with max extensions for All-NBA big man Chet Holmgren and All-NBA swingman Jalen Williams kicking in this year and the supermax for two-time NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander next season. The Thunder also have to work out a new deal for Isaiah Hartenstein, with Cason Wallace being extension eligible this summer, along with question marks around Lu Dort and Kenrich Williams' future in Bricktown. The 2026 NBA Draft was the first step of attempting to future-proof this roster, with the Oklahoma City Thunder controlling picks No. 12 and No. 17 heading into the event with rumors of trades on the horizon. The Thunder did make a trade, going up from No. 17 to the 16th selection to nab Bennett Stirtz at that spot. This was after Oklahoma City elected to bring Aday Mara into the fold with the No. 12 pick Tuesday night. Oklahoma City saw the top targets fall off the board in the three spots ahead of them. The Dallas Mavericks selected Morez Johnson Jr., the Bucks grabbed Brayden Burries and Warriors grabbed Yaxel Leneborg. A tough break for the draft board, considering most experts' predictions for the Thunder. The Thunder settled on Mara, who some projected as a trade-up candidate for the Bricktown Ballers. Getting the Michigan center at No. 12 without giving up any more assets changes the value and the feeling around the pick. Mara is a 7-foot-3 big man that checks in at 259 pounds with a 7-foot-6 wingspan and a 9-foot-9 standing reach, giving the Thunder size and even more depth at the center position. A log-jam has now been created. Assuming the Thunder bring back Hartenstein, they add Mara, rookie Thomas Sorber, Jaylin Williams and Chet Holmgren to that rotation. This move of drafting Mara should not have a summer-time ripple effect on Hartenstein. The Thunder must bring back the veteran big man in a title-or-bust campaign so as not to be relying on a pair of rookies and an undersized five behind Holmgren. Hartenstein's archetype could also provide great mentorship for Mara. Perhaps the ripple effects between these two seven-footers come in a year or two, when Hartenstein is expendable as Mara becomes ready to play heavy minutes. That time isn't right now. Mara only logged 22 minutes per game at the University of Michigan, with conditioning being an issue for him. He often ran out of gas on the court, which impacted his ability to contest shots without fouling at times, his physicality to avoid being bumped off his spots on both ends of the court. and his effectiveness in the pick-and-roll. Though, as he continues to work on his strength and conditioning a lot of these problems will be cleaned up. The Michigan big man allowed matchups to shoot just 40% at the rim, ranking in the 80th percentile in college, while giving up just 0.7 points per possession in the pick-and-roll as an almost exclusive drop coverage big taking the rim away for drivers and rollers out of that setting. This, on top of his elite rebounding ability, which didn't get to pop statistically while sharing the floor with a pair of bigs, but the eye-test shows how impactful he was. Mara is great at high-pointing the ball and keeping the ball over the top of defenses for put-back, kick out and outlet chances, with high-end positioning and when he is engaged and has his wind a really physical box-out player that is capable of moving matchups out of the way to clear the way for himself or others to gobble up rebounds. His ability to read balls off the rim is at an elite level, which will come in handy at the next level. Offensively, he produced 1.1 points per possession in the pick-and-roll, 1.5 points per possession on cuts, and almost a point per possession on post-ups. While he wasn't impactful as a transition scorer, given his inability to hit trailing triples or get down the floor going rim-to-rim in time, his outlet passes still allowed his team to capitalize with a numbers advantage. He has an incredibly high feel for the game, patience to make decisions and set his teammates up for scoring chances as a high-level passing big man. Mostly needing to be done by getting to his spots in the post to receive the ball and see over the top of defenses, or off offensive rebounds. Though the vision is there as he improves his motor to be a short-roll decision maker out of the pick-and-roll, where he needs to polish his game. His frame should eventually allow him to set wipe-away screens to create separation for ball handlers and see his massive catch radius and barreling frame open up scoring chances for himself. At the very least, he is ready to be a dunker spot play finisher day one in the NBA. While many will be interested in his long-term development from beyond the 3-point line, his shot as it currently stands is far too slow, and he shot too poorly at the charity stripe (56%) to truly buy into him ever being a deadly 3-point shooter. Given his positive traits, his size and the long-term ability to eventually be able to let the team withstand a potential trade of Hartenstein, it is easy to give this pick a passing grade before even adding the Sam Presti boost. As one of the best executives in the sport clearly believes in the Michigan big man. Then, factoring in the candidates remaining on the board at No. 12, it was seemingly between Mara, Nate Ament and perhaps Dailyn Swain -– there is a strong case to be made that Oklahoma City simply drafted the best available player. A method that they had to take to this draft. Between Mara's skillset, Presti's vision and the process of getting the Michigan big man, this has to be considered a good pick for Oklahoma City. Even if it adds questions about how their center rotation will look come October. Grade: B+Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow