Aday Mara Was Fucking Everywhere

Zion looked fine. 11 points on 4-for-6 in 16 minutes, got to his spots and didn’t look like somebody I needed to overanalyze in preseason. Trey Murphy had 11 too. But then Aday Mara starts doing everything on the other end and suddenly I’m watching him more than the starters. 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 18 minutes while going 5-for-5 from the field. That’s nasty production for that amount of time. Bennett Stirtz had 15, five boards and six assists, and Jared McCain hit four threes and had five assists, so OKC had a whole little group of young dudes making noise even though they eventually lost after the main rotation came out. Stirtz went down late too but was able to walk off, so I’d keep the injury update right beside that part instead of pretending it didn’t happen.

Mara’s the one where the gambling thought gets interesting if the minutes actually become real. I wouldn’t even start with his points. I’d be watching his rebounds and blocks, because those can travel even when he isn’t getting plays called for him. Nine boards and three blocks in 18 minutes tells me he was impacting possessions without needing the ball, and that’s exactly the kind of role that can become useful on FanDuel if he starts getting 20-plus minutes consistently. But the minutes are the whole fucking question. OKC has established bigs, so if Mara winds up playing 11 minutes one night and 24 the next, those props become a headache. First I need the role, then I care about the line. That’s the part I don’t wanna leave unfinished just because the box score looks sexy.