University of Michigan center Aday Mara has decided to enter his name in this year’s draft but will keep his college eligibility, Tony Garcia of the Detroit Free Press reports.
Mara, a potential lottery pick, played a major role in the Wolverines’ national championship season as their starting big man after transferring from UCLA. Mara came off the bench in two seasons with the Bruins but started 39 of 40 games for Michigan, averaging 12.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 2.4 assists in 23.4 minutes per game. Mara ramped up his production in the tournament, averaging 14.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.3 blocks.
Mara, a 7’3”native in Spain, shot 66.8 percent from the field but just 56.4 percent from the free throw line. He is ranked No. 14 overall on ESPN’s Best Available list.
Mara joins college teammate Yaxel Lendeborg, a fifth-year senior this past season, as potential lottery selections. Wolverines forward Morez Johnson and point guard Elliot Cadeau have also declared for the draft while maintaining their college eligibility.
The early entry deadline to enter the draft has now expired. All reported early entrants into the draft can be found here. It’s possible that some unreported or unannounced entrants will be added once the NBA releases its official list, which is expected to occur sometime next week.
I’m curious of the opinions on this guy because I’m not sure how his game will translate. He might be fantastic, but then again he might not?
We can all admit though, that he sure stepped up when it counted !!
Thoughts?
The draft has so many good players it might make sense for the warriors trade a future 1st round pick lotto protected for a pick in the top 20. Mara looks like a possible big man but needs to be a back up the first year in the NBA.