2026 NBA Draft: Aday Mara Scouting Report
Evaluating the Michigan and Spain center ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft.
DRAFT EVALUATION: Top 15
LAST BIG BOARD: N/A
NBA ROLE: Possession-winning big with feel
REMINDS ME OF: Fancy Donovan Clingan, less assertive Zach Edey, Neemias Queta
RAW STATS: 10.9 PTS, 7.1 REB (1.7o), 2.3 AST to 2.1 TOV, 0.5 STL, 2.7 BLK, 2.2 PF in 22.8 MINS over 19 GAMES
ADVANCED STATS: 11.0 BPM, 23.0 USG%, 63.1 TS%, 9.5 OREB%, 22.1 DREB%, 1.1 A/TO, 17.0 AST%, 21.0 TOV%, 1.2 STL%, 12.7 BLK%
Height: 7-3
Wingspan: 7-6¾
Weight: 255 lbs
Draft day age: 21.2 y/o
Birthday: April 7, 2005
Evaluation:
Aday Mara is a top 15 pick for me in the 2026 NBA Draft right now due to his combination of size, rebounding, feel, shotblocking, and at-rim scoring.
He reminds me of a fancy Donovan Clingan, a less assertive Zach Edey or, in a lower end outcome, Neemias Queta.
Mara’s passing creativity, in particular, will pop the most on tape - but I’m high on him because of how he combines that with everything else. It’s hard to turn down all of those things from a 7-foot-3 big who has a track record of improvement and production across different contexts.
However, I also have concerns about the Michigan center’s body, defensive limitations, usage relative to his position and turnovers, and free throw shooting.
The biggest elephant in the room is Mara’s defense in space. I’m not super concerned, although I doubt he’ll excel in every context at the next level.
The Spanish big is huge, blocks tons of shots, and dissuades attackers from attacking the basket or touching the paint.
Mara will never be switchy or guard at a high level in space, but I think he’s shown sufficient footspeed, versatility, and effort in enough pick-and-roll situations this year to the point where I feel okay about his defense.
He reminds me of Zach Edey in this regard, as he’s huge and knows how to position himself. It’s ultimately not that easy to get around Mara or fully beat him, even if he might look awkward or “too” big.
History implies that Mara is a relatively post-centric big who’s going to post a ~22.0 USG% and an assist-to-turnover ratio around 1.0. He will block shots at a high level but also likely be limited in space, at least in some settings.
We’ve seen this in college at UCLA and at Michigan - even if it’s looked somewhat different - in FIBA competition with various Spain teams and even before that at Zaragoza.
How many teams are fine with that? Or do they prefer someone who takes up less volume in terms of touches and decisions (and maybe poses less questions), but is also less skilled?
Background:
From Zaragoza, Spain. Father is Francisco Javier Mara, who played pro basketball in Spain and appeared in five games for CAI Zaragoza. Mother is Angélica “Geli” Gómez, who represented Spain internationally in pro volleyball.
Played soccer as a goalkeeper until he was 8 y/o and 5-foot-6.
He arrived in the US speaking some English, but has really improved there too.
Started playing with local club Básket Lupus, which has a great reputation in the region for its scouting, development, and youth tournaments. Was soon scouted and recruited by Zaragoza when he was 10-11 y/o (alevin in Spain).
Zaragoza didn’t have a team for kids that young back then, so he actually played with EM El Olivar until he was a little bit older.
Jorge Samper, a youth coach for Zaragoza, recalls him being the most passionate about basketball of anyone in his age group. Wasn’t a situation where he played because of his height.
Encountered some physical problems with running and general mobility because he was growing too fast. El Olivar technical director Chicho Lucas said he had some issues with his bones and tendons until those were corrected.
In 2020/21, played Adidas Next Generation Tournament in Istanbul, averaging 8.5
points, 10.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists at 15.11 y/o.
In 2021/22, called up by Jaume Ponsarnau to do his pre-season with Zaragoza’s senior team. Made his Zaragoza senior team debut as a 16.7 y/o on November 17, 2021 in the FIBA Europe Cup.
In 2022/23, made his Liga ACB debut at 17.6 y/o on October 16, 2022, scoring 8 points and snatching 4 rebounds in 19 minutes.
At that point, wasn’t even training daily with Zaragoza’s senior team because of his family’s focus on schoolwork.
Finished the 2022/23 season having appeared in 22 ACB games for Zaragoza, averaging 5.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.8 turnovers, and 0.9 blocks in 12 minutes per game.
Season-high 15 points on March 11, 2023. Season-high 4 blocks on April 8, 2023.
Leaving Zaragoza for UCLA was controversial. Club interpreted he had a buyout clause of 700.000€ with a contract until 2027 after signing a contract (with his parents and representatives acting on his behalf) in 2020. Mara interpreted his contract as allowing for a unilateral rescission.
Spent two seasons at UCLA under Mick Cronin before transferring to Michigan.
Tracked by Spain Basketball since U-13 level and has been a featured player across all age groups. Future senior team player.
Pros:
Play finishing…
77.5 FG% (69/89) at the rim this season ... 1.55 PPS...
72.3 FG% (34/47) on just layups … 1.45 PPS...
Can he sustain this? Shot 51.3 FG% (20/39) on layups last year at UCLA.
Instant catch-and-finish threat when being set up. He should have this in the NBA, at least in the long term, but best when paired with a table-setting guard.
Can he roll more? 75 FG% (15/20) on 1.143 PPP in 28 possessions as a roller.
Lob threat thanks to his size. Big radius and solid although not excellent hands.
Has missed some makeable dunks (31/37), which is worth noting.
Numbers are great but not a huge vertical leaper or particularly explosive finisher.
Getting fouled a lot.
69.4 FTr overall (19 games) goes up to 79.3 FTr vs. top 100 comp (13 games).
Positional passing and reads…
Really creative passer for a center. Throws no-looks, behind-the-backs, over-the-heads.
Excellent post or elbow passer, in particular. Reads and deals with doubles to create threes or find cutters.
Finds passes through tight windows with accuracy and diverse technique. Abnormal for a big.
Sees over the top of defenses and executes with touch. Capable skip passer. Forces defenses into rotation.
Short roll passing is promising and most signs point to him reading the floor well, but need to keep seeing more.
Cool flashes in transition with outlets (although these also go awry) and hit-aheads. Valuable off DREBs since he can instantly push his team up the floor.
Shotblocking and rim protection…
12.7 BLK%. Leads the Big Ten in block percentage and blocks per game.
Impactful when he’s hanging back at the rim and helping on a drive.
Footspeed and movement patterns aren’t twitchy, but so huge and coordinated that he covers a decent amount of ground. Reads the game well, too.
Signs in space have improved this year. Not a total stiff.
Can open up hips once and then stay parallel to straight line drives. I think this is mostly when the attacker doesn’t get that physical with him.
Has gotten better at contesting without leaving his feet. Also offers good verticality.
Hand placement on some of his blocks is impressive.
Dissuades attackers from attacking the paint or taking shots at the basket even when he’s not getting the block.
Rebounding potential. Some solid signs, but also inconsistent throughout his career…
9.5 OREB% and 22.1 DREB% this season.
Still needs to go up another notch. Has gotten tougher on the glass over time and gotten much better at repeating efforts.
Size, feel, and increased motor allows him to extend possessions for team.
Can OREB+AST in the same sequence, which is always great.
Won’t jump out of the gym, but his second jump seems fine.
Tracks misses for tip dunks. Can be impactful with tip-ins around the basket, as well.
On defense, has finished possessions with his rebounding this year - but can he control the glass by himself at the next level?
Cons:
Free throw shooting is awful…
46.5 FT% is awful (40/86).
Sophomore: 57.7 FT% (41/71)
Freshman: 70.0 FT% (21/30)
He leaves a ton of easy points on the table considering how often he’s getting to the line (69.4 FTr).
No signs from three either, which I think is fine but worth noting.
Didn’t take any threes as a freshman or sophomore. 0/4 from three at Michigan.
Is he too reliant on post-ups?
In 75 possessions posting up, 55.6 FG% (25/45) on 0.933 PPP.
These are harder shots, so I’d rather tilt his play balance towards rolling and finishing instead.
Passing is also largely out of the post, which is worth noting if he’s too dependent on back-to-the-basket reps.
At the same time, also valuable that he can create his own shot in the post.
Soft touch with hooks. Nice footwork for the most part. Uses dropsteps to create space. Smart at using the rim for reverse finishes.
Can get pushed away from the paint or knocked off-balance. Has gotten better at this, but can still be an issue.
Physical and defensive limitations…
Particularly applies in space, as is to be expected from a 7-foot-3 big.
Fouls a bit too much at 3.9 fouls per 40. Doesn’t adjust that well when bumped.
Worst case scenario sees him struggle even more due to the increased skill+length+athleticism+space of NBA offenses.
Unsure he’ll be able to truly keep up against teams who go small or constantly look to drag him out to the perimeter.
Mostly, although not exclusively, a drop defender. That’s not always a look you can turn to.
Screen-setting technique has to improve. Needs to make contact more often. Prefers to slip.
How often can he repeat efforts when it comes to rim-running, sealing smaller defenders, making sure he isn’t bumped off his spots by bigs, etc?
Needs to cut down on turnovers and take care of the ball…
Exciting and flashy passer who makes some advanced reads, but also turns the ball over slightly too much for my liking.
Needs too much time on the ball sometimes.
As of Jan. 25, sitting at a 1.1 A/TO. Ideally needs to stay above that 1.0 mark and even tick up, but history implies he’ll stay around there.
2.3 AST to 2.1 TOV this season.
17.0 AST% to 21.0 TOV% on 23.0 USG%
2025 Sophomore: 16.7 AST% to 15.2 TOV% on 25.9 USG% (1.2 A/TO)
2024 Freshman: 13.8 AST% to 17.6 TOV% on 23.8 USG% (0.8 A/TO)
2024 U20 Euros: 16.6 AST% to 25.1 TOV% on 25.2 USG% (0.6 A/TO)
2023 U18 Euros: 16.1 AST% to 19.4 TOV% on 22.9 USG% (0.9 A/TO)
2022 U17 World Cup: 18.2 AST% to 17.2 TOV% on 26.0 USG% (0.8 A/TO)
Are his hands only good, not great? Or maybe worse than that? Has missed a few dunks and dropped some catchable passes.
Impact in transition…
Can he keep up with the pace of the NBA? Not like he’s immobile, but he needs time to get up and down the court.
Not sure he’ll ever play a ton of minutes. Partly contextual (especially at UCLA), but I think we’ve seen that throughout college.
Can still maximize his impact in shorter runs, but that also affects roster+lineup construction if his possessions are ultimately capped, so to speak.
You’d likely need more bigs and forwards who can genuinely contribute at a rotation-level if Mara can only play 25ish minutes per game.