In a two-day span, Aday Mara's NBA hype has grown almost as exponentially as the 7-foot-3 center did in his teenage years. For the first time in a couple of years, the Oklahoma City Thunder have a must-watch prospect on their hands. And the 21-year-old looks like he won't need much time to help out.
The Thunder have wrapped up their preseason opening back-to-back. The biggest storyline out of it? Mara's NBA-ready contributions. Playing on both nights, the OKC fanbase has reached a fever pitch in its hype for him. And who's to blame them, really? After all, he's had a monstrous 34 points on perfect 15-of-15 shooting and 15 rebounds.
Testing Mara's limits and offseason work, the Thunder have cleared the deck out for him. He started both games. In
Night 1 in Tulsa, he logged 18 minutes in the first half. Night 2 back in OKC, he upped himself with 25 minutes in an entire game. Both were starts, too.
The Thunder have thrown Mara at the deep end of the pool from the jump. He's easily navigating the waters so far. Of course, there's the obvious caveat that preseason basketball can't be taken too seriously. But outplaying a glut of known NBA commodities such as Zion Williamson, Myles Turner and Kel'el Ware has the OKC fanbase salivating at his potential.
One person who's not surprised by Mara's early NBA success is former Michigan head coach Dusty May. In a recent Dwyane Wade-built mini-documentary, he talked about the basketball giant. The 15-minute video chronicled the 21-year-old's journey in Spain to being the No. 12 pick of the 2026 NBA draft.
If anybody knows how to get the best of Mara, it's May. The seven-footer's decision to transfer to Michigan after two so-so years at UCLA paid off big time. He rebuilt his basketball value and helped the Wolverines win the 2026 national championship. Even though their marriage lasted one year, they're forever tied to the hip.
"Such a unique player when you factor in, first and foremost, his size, length and rim protection," May said in the documentary. "His instincts, his brain processes at an incredibly fast speed."
There's a strong chance that we'll look back at the dominant 2026 Michigan team as one of those squads littered with special NBA talent. Its three-headed frontcourt monster — Mara, Morez Johnson Jr. and Yaxel Lendeborg — were all lottery picks. And May made the jump from college to the NBA as the Dallas Mavericks' new head coach.
It's only taken the Thunder two preseason outings to play with their new toy. This franchise has never before had someone 7-foot-3 or taller. He eclipses most of the NBA. Because of that, he's given all of OKC's ball-handlers an easy target in pick-and-rolls. Want to farm easy assists? Just throw the ball up. Mara's galaxy-sized catch radius makes it nearly impossible to mess up a lob pass.
Remains to be seen how effective Mara can be once the regular season rolls around. But so far, he's passed the preseason tests with flying colors. Amazing how completely different he looks compared to his sluggish Summer League tape from just three months ago. I guess the Thunder made the right decision to attach their recently-hired new athletic performance director to the seven-footer over the summer.
"If it continues to go at the same trajectory, he’s going to have a long and fruitful NBA career," May said. "He’s a special talent."
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Why Dusty May isn't surprised by Aday Mara's early NBA success: 'He’s a special talent'
