Thunder Rookie Duo Continues To Shine In Preseason

First, the bad news. Aday Mara actually missed a shot.

Coming into Monday night against the Atlanta Hawks, the 7'3" center had incredibly shot 15-15 from the field over his first two preseason games.

Now, the good news. The #12 overall pick and his Oklahoma City Thunder rookie teammate Bennett Stirtz continue to look more and more like legitimate NBA rotation players and probable draft night steals.

Mara flirted with a triple double while stuffing the stat sheet with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 blocks versus the Hawks. The playmaking and shot blocking have been on full display throughout the former Michigan Wolverine's preseason play. Once again, the big man finished several lobs through traffic.

"Mara obviously has the capacity to do that. But that hasn't been the foundational priority for his development so far," Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault of Mara's passing. "But he's done such a good job of handling his business on those priorities that tonight I thought it afforded an opportunity to play through that a little bit. And just establish a baseline of where that skill is. He did some really good things. He had some plays that he could get back. But it gave us an understanding of where he is walking in the door on something that may not be a featured priority right off the bat. There's bigger rocks in his developement. But he's done such a good job that we decided to give him the opportunity tonight. I thought it was a valuable one for him and for us."

Meanwhile, the Thunder's other 1st round rookie continued torching the nets. Stirtz finished with 26 points on 9 of 16 shooting including 6 of 9 from deep. The #16 overall pick is now a remarkable 13 of 22 from 3 during the preseason.

The Thunder duo have impressed during the preseason and caused quite a few doubters to switch up from their Summer League takes. But Stirtz believes that he and Mara will only get better as they build their chemistry.

"He's a great screener and roller. And obviously he's a threat cause he's 7'4" so it's easy to throw the ball up to him," Stirtz said of his connection with Mara. "I just gotta get more reps playing with him. Cause any point guard is a deadly combo with Aday. He's so special in that way. We gotta get it clicking."