Freakishly long and a fluid mover, Mara wil be very tough to pass up at a certain point in the draft. He's got passing touch and finishes plays at an elite level.

NBA Comp: Thinner Zach Edey.

Strengths: Crafty finisher/playmaker, good on a pick and roll, good rim protector, tall, sorta physical, good rebounder,

Weaknesses: High Turnover rate, Shaky hands/weird Turnovers, Holds ball too long in double team situations, Not always the best in Off/Def positioning, Not great from outside the paint, potential health issues because of his height,

draft range/15-20, Role/Traditional Center, Ceiling/DPOY Winner, Floor/Out of League, Expected/starter, Position/C

Full film Breakdown:

https://x.com/Chees_EdwardS/status/1989655010540753221?s=20

General Notes:

• 7'3 size + strong mobility for length

• Hub playmaking is real, the vision and execution is really good the timing is very long causing turnover

• lack of scoring versatility but consistent use of length for easy inside scoring and efficiency

• Insane block rates and a real rim deterrent

• Can be impressive off the switch in defence

Hard to pass up on this guy if you need a true big, fits all the modern day non shooter big needs.

Aday Mara: Junior, 21 yo., 255 Lbs., 7’3”

Season Stats: 10.9 PPG | 7.1 RPG | 2.3 APG | 2.6 BLK | 68.8 FG% | 46.7 FT%

Good passer. NBA size. If you need a center this is your guy. --- ---

PROS:

-Size

-Post defense + scoring

-Good passer

-Insane blocker

-Huge wingspan

-Good basketball IQ

CONS:

-Not super athletic

-Draft age

-Rebounding for his size

-Not a stretch big

-Terrible FT shooter

-Steals

PRO COMP: Marc Gasol lite

CEILING: Great starter

FLOOR: out of the league

EXPECTATION: Starter

FITS: Celtics, Thunder, Wizards, Knicks

Aday Mara's name has been in the draft cycle for a few years now. At 7'3 255lbs with some playmaking and shot blocking skills it isn't hard to see why. He finishes in the paint well and has been great for Michigan as an offensive hub, finding cutters over the top of defenders. His statistical production has been inconsistent both in terms of being on a stacked team and simply because of his own fluctuation in play. Two huge red flags for Mara have been his turnovers and his free throw shooting. Those are two things that are fixable but also two things that all but guarantee you won't find time on an NBA court. My guess is that at his size with his combination of skills, NBA teams will target Mara for a reduced volume type role as a backup center to come in for limited minutes each night and make burst impacts on both ends of the floor. I would expect a team with a reliable or superstar center to target Mara as a potential backup.

NBA Comp: Roy Hibbert/Andrew Bogut

Currently leads the Big10 in Block% and DBPM at 12.9% and 8.7, respectively. His size alone deters drivers, a valuable asset in itself. He is moderately mobile for his size, but is exclusively deployed in drop coverage. He has shown flashes of solid recovery defense, but smaller shooting bigs will definitely be a weakness at the next level. At 7'3", he isn't an impressive rebounder relative to his size, but is still a good rebounder overall; added physical strength, improved conditioning, and fundamentals should help him become better on the boards at the next level. He has an amazing feel for the game, posting a whopping 18.6 Assist% on the season, making incredible reads, kicking it out to perimeter shooters, and performing flashy low-post passes. The jumpshot mechanics aren't terrible, and he has 2 made threes on the season (on low volume), but the ft% juxtaposes this at under 50% so far this year. Offensively, his game thrives as a post-up big and cutter, where he can use his size and feathery touch to finish plays.

Players with at least 70% at the rim w/ Offensive rebound% >11, Defensive rebound % > 21, Block% >11, Assist% >11, since 2008: Aday Mara, Donovan Clingan, Karl-Anthony Towns, Joel Embiid.