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After going Dirk mode with a baseline fadeaway jumper, Aday Mara was feeling himself. He one-upped himself on the next possession with a 3-point attempt that fell short. That had folks jumping out of their seat in an otherwise forgettable exhibition.
The Oklahoma City Thunder opened their 2026 Summer League with an 111-74 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. That said, the results of these games don't matter. More importantly, how their top guys look is the whole point of the July event.
After Mara looked out of his depth in the first half, he finally looked comfortable in the second half. The 7-foot-3 center brings some novelty as the Thunder have never had a player with this gigantic stature. Even though he's viewed as a play-finisher in the paint, he showed off his range.
The jumper will be a work in progress for Mara. I think we all knew that just by looking at his Michigan tape and reading his scouting reports. The 21-year-old shot an ugly 56.4% at the free-throw line and only went 3-of-10 from 3 on the Wolverines last season.
That said, Summer League invites experimentation. You saw that on back-to-back possessions. Mara swished in a turnaround fadeaway jumper. He then took a heat check with a daring outside attempt. He reiterated that the whole point of this extravaganza is to test out your limits — even if we won't see immediate results.
"I think it's one of the things I still have to get better. Honestly, more than better. Confident," Mara said. "Honestly, I feel like these games and practices are to see or feel things you can do that you have not done in college or even before. Just try to see if you can do it here or just improve. Trying to see if I can do things as a player or do different things and adapt to the NBA game."
Will be interesting to see if Mara ever develops a jumper. Call me a skeptic. Need to see it first to believe it. On the Brook Lopez to Isaiah Hartenstein spectrum of big men trying to add an outside jumper to their bag, I'd place him closer to the latter. Still, he's a giant blob of clay at this point on that end of the floor. He can still grow his game.
Perhaps his best-case scenario is Donovan Clingan. The 7-foot-2 center went from 0.7 3-point attempts in his rookie season and tripled the volume to 3.2 attempts in his second season. At a decent 34.1% clip, too. In his two collegiate years at UConn, he only took nine 3-pointers.
A lot is still unknown about Mara's NBA player profile. We know his sheer size only will make him a productive player on both ends. But if he ever carves out a jumper — whether in the mid-range or the outside — then that completely changes OKC's offensive dynamics. Remains to be seen, though. But it's good to see him be at least open to the addition.
"It's definitely easier when you don't have the pressure to win the game. That one, we were already 30 points behind," Mara said. "We stopped thinking about the scoreboard and thinking about ourselves as a team. It's easier to do those things. Those things I know are in my game. You're just trying to find a better shot."
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Aday Mara trying to be 'confident' with 3-pointer in Summer League
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