Aday Mara has completed one of the most meteoric rises in NBA draft circles in recent years.
The center, who spent two years as a backup big at UCLA before transferring to Ann Arbor prior to the 2025-26 season, became one of the focal points of Michigan basketball’s national championship team and then a bona fide prospect in the 2026 NBA Draft, where he was selected No. 12 overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, June 23, at Barclays Center in New York.
Mara became the third Michigan basketball player drafted in a four pick span, following Morez Johnson Jr. (No. 9 to Dallas Mavericks) and Yaxel Lendeborg (No. 11 Golden State Warriors).
Mara, the first of three expected former U-M players to be selected in the lottery portion of the draft, helped his stock with a fantastic 2026 NCAA Tournament, in which he averaged 14.7 points and 5.7 rebounds (including a 24-point, nine-rebound performance in Michigan’s dominant 91-73 Final Four win over Arizona).
All season long, he was consistent, averaging 12.1 points and 6.8 boards while shooting a career best 66.8% from the floor. But as much as his offseason work impressed U-M staff, who felt like they were getting a game-changing player when they landed him last spring in the transfer portal, he exceeded even their lofty expectations.
“Yeah, I mean not because we didn’t think he was super-talented, but just as you get older, the NBA typically doesn’t draft players where it seems like he’s going to go and be a top-10 pick,” then-Michigan coach Dusty May told the Free Press a few days before the draft.
Mara’s measurables only helped his stock, when he measured 7 feet 3 and 260 pounds to go with a 7-foot-6 wingspan − the second-longest in NBA combine history − last month in Chicago. The Spaniard was one of the nation’s top shot blockers in the country last year, averaging a Big Ten-best 2.6 swats per game while setting a program record in a season (103) and earning a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year nod.
While that’s one of his most coveted traits, his ability to pass has also drawn praise, as he didn’t just facilitate offense with short handoffs, but kicked the ball out from the post and threw full-court passes off defensive rebounds, something that helped U-M become one of the best transition teams in the nation last season.
“His ability to block shots, not give up layups, he’s so skilled as far as passing and facilitating, then just factor in his size, I mean he has a 9-foot-9 standing reach,” May said. “He’s got some attributes that the NBA especially really values.”
As Mara continued to excel down the stretch, it became more and more likely he was going to forego his final year of collegiate eligibility. He told the Free Press in April, moments after U-M’s national championship parade, that if he got a grade as a top-20 lock, he would move on. Since then, he has only continued to rise.
Mara played all 40 games (39 starts) for Michigan last season, had 28 games scoring in double figures (including three with at least 20 points) to go with five double-doubles and at least one block in every game.
Mara led the Big Ten in defensive win shares, defensive box plus-minus, defensive rating and block rate while serving as a deterrent for any opponents looking to get in the lane: that was a major reason Michigan finished No. 4, per KenPom, in average 2-point distance against (7.3 feet).
Mara was seen as a high-upside addition for Michigan last spring, someone who could impact the team for years to come. While he only stuck around for one season, U-M got everything it could have dreamed of in that time: a Big Ten championship, a program record for wins (37) and the team’s first national championship in 37 years.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Aday Mara, Michigan star, goes No. 12 to Thunder in 2026 NBA Draft
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
