The Oklahoma City Thunder had a lottery pick after losing in the Western Conference semifinals, as years of trades and accumulated draft assets are starting to pay off. This summer, the Thunder drafted seven-footer Aday Mara.
The NCAA national champion was dominant in college basketball at the University of Michigan. This preseason, the 7-foot-3 giant has been nearly unstoppable.
“Aday Mara final preseason stats: 13.4 PTS, 78.8 FG%, 78.9 FT%, 7.6 REB, 2.8 AST, 2.6 TO, 2.4 BLK, 23.3 MIN, +6 Plus/Minus. Impressive 5 games from the #12 overall pick,” Thunder beat writer Brandon Rahbar wrote.
It is unclear how big of a role Oklahoma City envisioned for Mara when it drafted him, but his preseason performance has given the team reason to consider him for meaningful minutes. After all, his production has made it difficult to overlook his potential impact.
“The 7-foot-3 center has done wonders to change the perspective on his first-year outlook this past week. Now, real expectation is building for the first-year Michigan man. The talent, the skill, both obvious as to why top Thunder executive Sam Presti pulled the trigger on the center with this lottery pick despite rostering a loaded front court,” Sports Illustrated’s Rylan Stiles wrote.
However, some bad news has arisen. Mara could be prevented from making his NBA debut because of a legal dispute with Casademont Zaragoza.
“As the local newspaper Heraldo de Aragon reported first his former team claims to hold his playing rights and plans to block any international clearance until a financial settlement regarding his departure is reached. This case had initially progressed to litigation and remains without a legal resolution,” EuroHoops.net’s Johnny Askounis wrote.
The Spanish club has reportedly made it clear that it intends to keep Mara from playing until the dispute is resolved. That would be an unfortunate development for the Thunder, as Mara was emerging as a potential contributor to their frontcourt depth. Of course, it remains unclear how much time he could miss.
Oklahoma City opens the regular season on Tuesday, leaving only a few days for the situation to be resolved. If the dispute remains unsettled, Mara could miss opening night and potentially more time. This will be a situation to monitor over the coming days.
