The Thunder's Newest Big Men Will Have To Earn Their Minutes

With OKC currently competing for a championship, the team can't afford to give away too many minutes for development.

Michigan center Aday Mara (15), center, celebrates a play against Saint Louis with guard Elliot Cadeau (3) during the first half of NCAA Tournament Second Round at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on Saturday, March 21, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Oklahoma City’s young big men can’t expect to just be given a big role from the start. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder are going into this season with a different-looking roster than the previous year, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Last season, OKC didn’t have a huge frontcourt presence, as its true big men only consisted of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. Oklahoma City would combat this issue by using Jaylin Williams as a big in the team's small-ball lineup, where he would thrive. 

This year is a different story. Oklahoma City’s 2025 first-round draft pick, Thomas Sorber, is set to make his NBA debut this season after suffering an injury before the season, along with OKC’s first-round pick this year, Aday Mara. These two add a great deal of size to the roster, with Mara standing at 7-foot-3 and Sorber at 6-foot-9. 

Mara and Sorber might add size that was needed on the Oklahoma City roster, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will have a spot for themselves on day one. 

Oklahoma City is in the position of fighting for a championship right now and needs to make sure that its best players are on the court at all times. While eventually this could include both Mara and Sorber, the two are unproven and haven’t yet shown that they can handle the competitiveness of the league. 

Additionally, the Thunder have shown that they can thrive without great depth at the frontcourt. Williams has held down the middle in multiple big situations and has been great at defending players who are bigger than him. With him in the middle, the Thunder’s small-ball rotation has become a dangerous threat to any team in the league, and OKC isn’t going to get rid of it so soon. 

Both Mara and Sorber can expect minutes throughout the year, as OKC wants them to develop, but they’ll have to earn the minutes that count. Once they do develop, both could be a huge help to the squad, aiding Holmgren and Hartenstein. 

There is no doubt that the Thunder think that both Mara and Sorber have the potential to be great players on the Oklahoma City roster, but there is currently no room to sacrifice minutes for players who aren’t ready to compete with the best. Both Mara and Sorber will have to develop quickly as the season goes on, and only then will they be able to secure crucial minutes down the stretch.