Why the Chicago Bulls Must Avoid Aday Mara and Other Centers in the First Round of the NBA Draft

With the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery approaching, the Chicago Bulls find themselves in a pivotal position. Armed with two high-value first-round picks—their own, currently slated for the No. 9 spot, and an additional selection from the Portland Trail Blazers, at No. 15, the Bulls have a rare opportunity to accelerate their organizational reset.

However, as the front office prepares to utilize these assets, a clear analytical directive is emerging: The Bulls should avoid using these lottery selections on centers, including the class’s most intriguing big man, Aday Mara.

The modern NBA analytics suggest that drafting for "need" rather than "upside" is a recipe for stagnation. For a team needing a complete talent infusion, selecting a traditional center who requires years of development to become a defensive anchor is an inefficient use of resources when compared to the high-upside wing and guard talent available in this deep class

As seen across the league from 2020 to 2025, lottery-picked centers are the draft’s ultimate volatility trap.

In regards to Mara at 7-foot-3, he offers a rare blend of rim protection and high-post playmaking—a profile that has led some analysts to compare his potential impact to an offensive facilitator like Nikola Jokić or a connector like Isaiah Hartenstein.

While Mara’s ability to see the floor and execute creative passes makes him the closest thing to a "playmaking hub" in the 2026 class, selecting him in the top 16 represents a significant analytical risk for Chicago. Despite his playmaking flashes, Mara faces substantial hurdles: significant conditioning concerns, below-average perimeter mobility, and a lack of consistent outside shooting. In a modern NBA that increasingly prioritizes switchability and speed, drafting a 7-foot-3 center who may be limited to drop-coverage defense is a bet against the current league trajectory.

In contrast to the high-variance nature of big men, lottery-selected wings and high-upside guards consistently demonstrate higher immediate impact-metric stability.

History shows that championship teams are rarely built by anchoring their payroll and draft capital to a traditional, non-mobile center. Instead, elite teams are anchored by superstar wings who can defend at a high level and initiate offense. 

For a Bulls team that needs high-level, immediate contributions, Mara projects more as a situational rotation piece than a foundational superstar.

In a draft class as deep as 2026, reaching for a traditional big man—even one with intriguing playmaking upside would be a mistake. To build a future-proof foundation, the Bulls must look to the perimeter.