With top draft picks sidelined, the Northwestern standout seized his opportunity, delivering a dominant double-double performance to prove he is ready for an expanded role in Oklahoma City.
The Oklahoma City Thunder announced on Thursday afternoon that 2026 #12 overall pick Aday Mara and #16 overall pick Bennett Stirtz would not be playing the final two Summer League games.
Both rookies had played all but the second night of a back to back game in Utah up to that point. Due to their playing plenty of games and receiving a lion's share of reps, sitting the two touted first year players would make way for other young players on the roster to show off their stuff.
But in addition to Mara and Stirtz, #41 overall pick Otega Oweh has also been absent recently due to an apparent ankle injury he picked up against the Atlanta Hawks. That meant that the only player remaining on the Thunder Summer League roster who OKC spent a draft pick on was Brooks Barnhizer.
And the former Northwestern Wildcat stepped up and showed out versus the Dallas Mavericks.
Barnhizer led all scorers with 21 points. The #44 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft shot 8 of 16 from the field including 1 of 1 from deep range. He added 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in 29 minutes. Barnhizer's stat sheet stuffing was by far his best showing this summer.
And the 24 year old isn't the only one who has played better as we've gone deeper into Summer League.
Those two buzzed about 1st round rookies showed improvement each game. Barnhizer, the squad's grizzled veteran who is entering his second season, was asked after Game 1 in Las Vegas what advice he'd give to Mara and Stirtz.
"Just really be them," Barnhizer said. "I think Stirtz had a really good game today in terms of just being him. It was the first game where I feel like he was really aggressive and kinda did what he does. I think Mara, be the guy they picked at 12. Just be confident in yourself. He's super tall. He can alter shots. He can really pass. He had some flashes. A lot of times, the same thing happened to me last year. You gotta shake the dust off as a rookie. And they'll do that. They get better every game."
While the Thunder have yet to win one Summer League game, the final scores of these exhibitions are mostly meaningless. The hope for organizations and fans is that their team's young prospects show some promise and development.
In that sense, OKC actually has picked up a couple wins.
