Underdog Fantasy released their latest 2026 NBA Mock Draft, with the Chicago Bulls looking to add some serious size to their roster.
The Chicago Bulls recently underwent major changes, relieving Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas and General Manager Marc Eversley of their duties. Chicago made these changes because they felt the duo wasn't succeeding in their roles, but also because the Bulls currently sit 9th in lottery odds and will likely need to have their front office hires completed soon to scout the draft class in earnest ahead of the May 10 draft lottery. Chicago's lack of size and rim protection on the roster has been generally noted for some time now, even before they traded away longtime center Nikola Vucevic, who was poor defensively but at least provided size and rebounding. A new mock draft has the Bulls solving their rim protection issues with one pick: 7-foot-3 Michigan center Aday Mara.
Underdog Fantasy released their latest 2026 NBA Mock draft, and they have the Bulls selecting Spanish center Aday Mara with the 9th overall pick.
Getting selected 9th overall is the highest I have seen Mara go across a recent swath of mock drafts.
Perhaps it is because of how badly the Bulls need size--the tallest person on the Bulls roster is 6-foot-11, and they rank 26th (27.9%) in Offensive Rebound Rate--or perhaps it is because Michigan just won their second National Championship in school history. In the Wolverines championship win over the UConn Huskies, Mara had a solid-yet-not-spectacular 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal and shot 57% from the field over 30 minutes.
Mara is an impressive playmaker for a 7-foot-3 big, posting a 19% Assist Rate over his lone year at Michigan. He averaged 2.0 turnovers per game as well, but you live with the mistakes when you see just how comfortable Mara is finding cutters, and using ball fakes to make defenders think he is passing, before obliterating them at the rim with a variety of spin moves and up-and-unders.
At 7-foot-3, the biggest concern with Mara would be keeping him healthy throughout the entirety of his career, which likely means managing his minutes to keep him fresh. Billy Donovan--or whoever is the Bulls head coach next season--can take notes from Michigan head coach Dusty May, who played Mara a cautious 23.4 minutes per game, to the tune of 12.1 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.4 APG, 2.6 BPG and 66.8% from the field.
The main warts in Mara's game are the fact that he is a terrible free throw shooter (career 58.5% free throw shooter) despite getting to the line 3.5 times per game last season, and he does not space the floor. He simply isn't that type of player, and a hulking, traditional, rim-protecting center still has plenty of utility in the NBA, especially when you have the passing chops of Mara.
Ninth overall seems quite high on paper for the 21 year old, Spanish center, but his ability to fill a massive need immediately might make him worth the reach for Chicago.