Oklahoma City’s frontcourt picture is starting to look a whole lot sturdier.
For the past few seasons, the Thunder have been one of the NBA’s most dominant teams, grabbing the top seed in the West for three straight years and posting the league’s best record in each of the last two. But even with all that success, one area never fully stopped nagging at them: the interior.
That weakness has shaped the way Oklahoma City has attacked the draft. The Thunder used their first pick in each of the last two drafts on a center, bringing in Thomas Sorber and Aday Mara. Sorber is still something of a question mark after his torn ACL kept him off the floor last season, but Mara has already given the team plenty to like.
Through two preseason games, Mara has flashed the kind of impact that can change a roster’s feel in a hurry. He’s already shown he can affect the game on both ends, and the early signs suggest his transition to the NBA could come faster than expected.
The upside has never really been the issue with Mara. The bigger concern was whether he could keep up physically, especially with conditioning questions hanging over him. But the 2026 national champion has already shown improvement there, too.
It’s still only preseason, and two games won’t tell the whole story. Even so, Mara’s early production, along with the idea that he could handle solid minutes on the back end of a back-to-back, has to be encouraging for Oklahoma City.
And the timing matters. Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams are all going to miss time at some point, and the Thunder have lived through enough stretches where their bigs were unavailable to know how much that can matter. With Mara already looking ready and Sorber potentially in the mix, those thin nights inside should be less of a problem.
The rotation down low still isn’t perfect. It probably never will be. But for a team that’s spent years trying to patch that spot, this looks a lot closer to real depth than Oklahoma City has had in a while.
In Other News...
Luka Doncic Just Raised The Stakes For The Lakers Season
Luka Doncics first season with the Lakers ended with a frustrating detour, as a Grade 2 hamstring strain kept him out of the entire playoff run. Los Angeles still finished fourth in the Western Conference, but without Doncic on the floor, the defending champions sent the Lakers home before the real test of the spring ever had a chance to begin.
Now, with a new season approaching, Doncic has made it clear he wants to come back fully healthy and give the Lakers a real shot at contending. The injury and the way last season ended have only sharpened the stakes for him and for a roster that knows how different the picture looks when its best player is available. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Preseason Is Hinting At An Offense Fans Have Waited For
The Thunders preseason has offered an early look at an offense that looks a little freer, a little sharper and a lot more connected than the group that has often had to grind for points in recent years. In their second game, the ball moved cleanly, the shooting looked more confident and the assist numbers reflected a team finding easier ways to get to good shots. With roster changes and some new wrinkles in place, Oklahoma City has at least given its fans a reason to wonder if this could be the start of a more efficient attack.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been part of that feel-good start, and so has rookie Aday Mara, who has fit neatly into the flow the Thunder are trying to build. Mara has been perfect from the field this preseason, which is the kind of small-sample note that jumps out in October even before the games count. The bigger question now is whether this early offensive comfort can hold once the schedule tightens and opponents start game-planning for it in earnest. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Opening Night Opponent Already Sounds Far From Ready
The Spurs are heading toward opening night with plenty of attention and even more pressure after last seasons run to the NBA Finals ended against the Knicks. With expectations again high in San Antonio, coach Mitch Johnson did not sound especially pleased with where his group stands in preseason, saying the team still has work to do before it can look like a club ready for the start of the new season against the Thunder.
Johnson pointed to the overall level of play as not yet matching what the Spurs will need when the games count, a reminder that preseason results can still matter when they reveal how much cleaning up is left. He also singled out the second preseason game as part of the concern, while noting the team has 10 days before opening night to sharpen things up before facing Oklahoma City. [Read more 🡒]