Aday Mara’s arrival has already started to reshape the way the Thunder can attack, and the ripple effect may hit Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hardest.
The rookie big man has been turning heads in preseason with his interior presence and his passing touch, and the early returns suggest he can be more than just another young piece in the rotation. He’s looked like a real problem around the rim, especially when the ball is coming his way on lobs, and that gives Oklahoma City a weapon it didn’t have before in quite the same way.
That matters for Gilgeous-Alexander because of how he already bends defenses. He drives to the basket as often as almost any guard in the league, and those actions regularly draw doubles and even triple teams because of his gravity. Last season, he led the league with 1,180 points generated off drives, while also ranking second in passes generated from those sets with 750 and third in assists generated with 164.
Most of those passes were kick-outs to the perimeter. This season, though, the Thunder may have a very different kind of finishing target. With Mara standing 7-foot-3 and already flashing as a dangerous lob option, Gilgeous-Alexander should have more chances to lift the ball toward the rim instead of spraying it back out.
That’s where the assist ceiling starts to move. Mara has been perfect so far in preseason, going 15-for-15, and if that kind of efficiency carries over, Gilgeous-Alexander has a real path to posting a new career-high in assists per game in 2026-27.
Mara isn’t the only rookie benefiting from Gilgeous-Alexander’s presence, either.
Bennett Stirtz has also been thriving in the preseason, and his numbers through two games stand out: 35 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in 53 minutes, while shooting 60.0 percent from the floor. What makes that line even more notable is the way he’s producing it. The Iowa product is being used more like an off-ball piece than the ball-dominant player he’s been used to being.
Coach Mark Daigneault has already said that part of the adjustment is "a little new for him," but Stirtz made clear the transition is easier "when you have the best player in the world out there."
For now, Gilgeous-Alexander’s gravity is doing exactly what great stars do: making life easier for everyone around him.
In Other News...
Thunder Trade Is Suddenly Being Linked To A Much Bigger NBA Fallout
Last seasons Jared McCain trade was easy to file away as one of those moves with immediate roster consequences for Oklahoma City, but it is getting pulled into a much wider NBA conversation now. A podcast host has floated the idea that the deal sent ripples far beyond the Thunder and 76ers, turning a basic transaction into a talking point tied to how power shifts can spread through the league.
For Oklahoma City, the more practical impact was simpler and far more familiar: McCains emergence gave the Thunder room to reshape the backcourt and trust younger help behind their core. The broader fallout is where the story gets interesting, though, because the same chain of events is now being connected to Philadelphias front office direction and, in turn, to LeBron James choice of destination, leaving one of the leagues strangest offseason domino runs still open for debate. [Read more 🡒]
Aday Mara Is Giving The Thunder A New Problem For Defenses
Rookie center Aday Mara has wasted no time making himself part of Oklahoma Citys preseason conversation. Through the first two games, he has given the Thunder a different kind of interior presence, one that has already shown up in the way the offense is flowing around him. His size and timing have made alley-oop actions a real weapon, and the team has been able to create looks that simply were not there with its previous centers.
The early returns have been hard to ignore because Mara has been productive in very few minutes, adding scoring, rebounding and rim protection while fitting neatly into the Thunders pace and spacing. Just as important, his touch around the basket has defenses having to account for him in a new way, which can open things up for everyone else. For a team always looking for another edge, the next question is how much of this new wrinkle can carry over once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Preseason Just Raised The Stakes For Two Young First-Rounders
Through two preseason games, the Thunder have already found a few early storylines worth watching, and Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz have been right in the middle of them. The two first-round picks have been among the teams most productive scorers so far, a notable development for a roster that already leans heavily on established talent and does not make minutes easy to come by.
Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber are part of the same crowd fighting for the next opening, and the competition only gets tighter from here. Both are expected to get chances this season, but with Oklahoma Citys depth and the coaching staff committed to giving everyone a fair shot, preseason production may carry extra weight as the rotation starts to take shape. [Read more 🡒]