Aday Mara blocks shots at a rate of 3.5 per 36 minutes, and the minutes are the only question

Nineteen blocks in 198 minutes is the number that makes Aday Mara interesting. Over his first ten NBA games the Thunder rookie has averaged 1.9 blocks in 19.8 minutes, which works out to about 3.5 blocks per 36 minutes, and that is simple arithmetic on his box scores rather than our projection. On Saturday he added the scoring that had been missing, with 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting, eight rebounds and three blocks in 27 minutes as Oklahoma City beat Washington 114-75, a result the Associated Press recap on ESPN described as a rout of a Wizards team that shot 29.6% from the field.

The question for fantasy managers is whether the minutes are real. Saturday's 27 were a season high outside one game at Houston, and they came in a game the Thunder led 90-59 after three quarters, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sitting the whole fourth quarter according to the same recap and Isaiah Hartenstein playing only 18 minutes. Mara's box score lists him as a starter on Saturday and on Wednesday against Cleveland, his only two starts of the season, and on Friday in Memphis, between them, he came off the bench for 18 minutes. That is the pattern of a player whose role is growing, but not of one who has a starter's minutes yet.

Every player in this story is on the fantasy basketball rankings and the 2026-27 projections, and the NBA depth charts show where each one stands in his team’s rotation tonight.