OKC Thunder Added to Defensive Identity in 2026 NBA Draft

Oklahoma City's defense got even better after selecting three players in the 2026 draft class.

Jun 23, 2026; New York, NY, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver greets the twelfth pick in the 2026 NBA draft, Michigan center Aday Mara after he was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder at Barclays Center. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder already had one of the best defensive units in the NBA, and the team may have improved in that area over the offseason.

Five players on OKC's roster; Alex Caruso, Chet Holmgren, Cason Wallace, Jalen Williams and Lu Dort, have earned All-Defense recognition during their careers, forming a solid defense for the Thunder.

After falling to the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, though, Oklahoma City needed to make a few adjustments to its roster. Players like Ajay Mitchell, Jalen Williams and Thomas Sorber staying healthy should be the biggest fix for OKC, but the team's 2026 draft class could also help Mark Daigneault's squad address some of those issues.

While defense wasn't the Thunder's primary shortcoming against San Antontio, Sam Presti and company bolstered the roster on that end of the court in the 2026 NBA Draft.

The selections of Aday Mara at No. 12 and Otega Oweh at No. 41 should help create even more depth to OKC's perimeter defense and add more size to the Thunder's frontcourt.

Mara's size, length and timing led to the Michigan product being one of the best rim defenders in college basketball during the 2025-26 season.

According to Todd Whitehead of Sportradar, Mara held opponents to a 45.3% field goal percentage at the rim, defending four shots in that area per game.

Isaiah Stewart boasted the lowest mark in the NBA last season, holding opponents to 47.5% at the rim while defending 3.4 attempts per game. Holmgren was the only other player to hold opponents below 50% at the rim during the 2025-26 campaign.

Aday Mara defended 4 shots at the rim per game last season at Michigan and allowed an opponent FG% of just 45.3%. pic.twitter.com/uwlCCHIkCC

— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) June 24, 2026

Whitehead noted that Sportradar can also, "tag the outcome of every touch that reaches the paint and see how often the defender forces his opponent to give the ball up without creating a scoring opportunity for himself or a teammate."

Mara also led amongst recent drafted big men in that category, forcing opponents to pass out of paint touches without creating a scoring opportunity 22.5% of the time. Zach Edey held the same mark at Purdue, while Ryan Kalkbrenner rounded out the top three at 21.7%.

and now we can do the same for college players 👀
*here, as a percent of all paint touches defended:
Mara (Michigan) - 22.5%
Edey (Purdue) - 22.5%
Kalkbrenner (Creighton) - 21.7%
Wemby (Spurs '25-26) - 20.8%
Clingan (UConn) - 19.8%

— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) June 26, 2026

Alongside the addition of Mara's interior defense, Oweh is a solid perimeter defender.

According to Whitehead and Sportradar's data, Oweh ranked in the top 12 amongst 2026 NBA Draft prospects who, "most frequently defend the ball handler in pick actions while also making a positive impact on defense."

A list of the NBA defenders who most frequently defend the ball handler in pick actions while also making a positive impact on defense contains some of the best point-of-attack defenders in the league. And here's how the same list looks for this year's draft prospects. pic.twitter.com/zKkZsPOM0N

— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) June 24, 2026

Only four players; Brayden Burries, Ebuka Okorie, Bruce Thornton and Braden Smith, who ranked in the top 12 of that metric were drafted above Oweh.