Aday Mara took little time to show NBA impact in OKC's preseason loss to Pelicans

Keeping his feet down, Aday Mara stood his ground over Derik Queen. He swatted away his reverse layup attempt. Running the floor, Kenrich Williams rewarded him. He fed the ball to the seven-plus-footer. He glided off the hardwood to go with the nifty finger-roll layup.

Mara finished with 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting, nine rebounds and three assists. He also had three blocks. Apparently, one half sufficed as the Thunder pulled the plug at halftime. Quite the statement for his NBA preseason debut.

The Oklahoma City Thunder fell in a 116-110 preseason loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. But a fun first half made a blown 24-point lead forgettable. Both of OKC's prized prospects showed out and flat-out played the opposition's presumed Opening Night starters.

"Not going to lie, I was a little nervous for the first part. In the bus, and then the first minutes of the game, but it was great," Mara said. "It's great to play the first game, to be with the team, like the first practice we had."

This was easily the best-case scenario for Mara's first action with his real Thunder teammates. He completely bodied the Pelicans on both ends of the floor. If he wasn't running the floor to get transition buckets, he magnified his physicality to push their hefty frontcourt around.

The rebounding was superb, too. He almost recorded a double-double in one half alone. He towered over several New Orleans players to grab loose balls. So much for that being a weakness of his. At least through one night. Feeling confident, Mara even showed off his playmaking chops. The Thunder rotated around him like he was a sun to a galaxy.

Throughout the pre-draft cycle, Mara was viewed as one of the more polarizing prospects. Sure, his unique size makes him a menace on both ends of the floor. But how translatable is that to the NBA level? Well, for one half, you saw what the absolute best-case scenario is. His improved conditioning was obvious from the jump. The 7-foot-3 center was light on his feet. And when you combine that with his natural skills, you get OKC's potentially next big-time hit in its developmental pipeline.

"I was feeling good. Obviously, a couple of times, I got tired. Maybe a couple of times that I ran up and down or the game got with non-stops," Mara said. "But I think I was feeling good. Just trying to learn how the contacts are here because it's way different from college. As soon as I know how to be on the court. As soon as I know how to manage all these efforts, I think I will be even better. Also, by playing and practicing, conditioning-wise, it's going to be better."

Elsewhere, Mara was all smiles about Williams' recent boost in his confidence. The veteran teammate vouched for his new teammate. He called his shot and believes the colossal NBA center will eventually become an All-Defensive member. That's quite the compliment. Especially considering his track record as a successful talent evaluator.

"Obviously, it feels good to hear that from him. He's an experienced player, so he's been in this league for a lot of years. But also, I don't know. I think it's going to take time," Mara said. "This is my first preseason NBA game, so I still need to like learn a lot of things, play against a lot of players and get better. So obviously, it's good to hear that. But also, that really helps me to get to work better with more energy."

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Aday Mara took little time to show NBA impact in OKC's preseason loss to Pelicans