Aday Mara (2005) - the spanish freak?

[sisibilio]

He's currently playing the spanish u18 championship. He struggled the first 2 games but has been great last 3.
Today Zaragoza play the SF vs a stacked Real Madrid which includes top prospect Hugo Gonzalez (bound to be top 10 in the 2025 draft)
You can watch all games live and on demand here https://canalfeb.tv/

[sisibilio]

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[clyde21]

has he not playing well lately? noticed his ranking on eurospects dropped recently. he's 7th ranked now in the 2005 gen. they have another Spanish cat, Izan Almansa (who's gonna play in OTE) ahead of him now.

[sisibilio]

He played great in the last few games of the spanish u18 championships.
Those rankings are pretty awful. He's the best prospect in the 2005 generation by a significant margin.

[sisibilio]

Btw spanish federation announced the preliminary list for the u19 World championships and he's not there.
Other notable absences are Hugo González or Conrad Martínez.

[clyde21]

they went with Almansa over him

[sisibilio]

I was hoping both to be there.
I guess they wanted to balance the u18 and u19 squad and he wasn't up to play 2 tournaments.
Or maybe he'll join the senior NT.

[peZt]

Averages 17/9/3 with 1,5 assists in 21 minutes at the U18 Euro's right now shooting 70% from the field and 81% from the FT. Haven't seen any of his matches but the numbers look great. And Spain are undefeated and in the Quarter Finals

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[babyjax13]

they went with Almansa over him

I think they just wanted to bring really good U18 and U19 teams, so they put Mara on the U18 team.

[BostonCouchGM]

I don't want to be hyperbolic but he's essentially a taller and longer Jokic right down to the middling athleticism, elite BBIQ and passing. Until further notice he has to be at or near the top of the draft. He'll obviously need more strength and he'll never be able to guard the perimeter but what center does?

[Hal14]

More impressive passing feel from Mara:

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[sisibilio]

I don't want to be hyperbolic but he's essentially a taller and longer Jokic

Dude

[crows2]

I don't want to be hyperbolic but he's essentially a taller and longer Jokic right down to the middling athleticism, elite BBIQ and passing.

The difference is Jokic has other-worldly BBIQ and passing, not just elite. Easily the best ever for a C and possibly for any position in history. I’ve only seen Mara in last year’s U17 World Cup, but I highly doubt he has anything close to that.

[Hal14]

I don't want to be hyperbolic but he's essentially a taller and longer Jokic right down to the middling athleticism, elite BBIQ and passing.

The difference is Jokic has other-worldly BBIQ and passing, not just elite. Easily the best ever for a C and possibly for any position in history. I’ve only seen Mara in last year’s U17 World Cup, but I highly doubt he has anything close to that.

He didn't when he was a prospect who hadn't yet been drafted. You shouldn't be comparing Mara at age 18 (and most of the film we have of him is at age 17) to Jokic at age 28.

[Saints14]

I don't want to be hyperbolic but he's essentially a taller and longer Jokic right down to the middling athleticism, elite BBIQ and passing.

The difference is Jokic has other-worldly BBIQ and passing, not just elite. Easily the best ever for a C and possibly for any position in history. I’ve only seen Mara in last year’s U17 World Cup, but I highly doubt he has anything close to that.

Yup, Jokic is able to combat his weaknesses with strengths that aren't just great or elite, but among the best in league history which makes all the difference. How good would Jokic be with merely great IQ/passing? Outside of maybe a rare case like Wemby's rim protection, you just can't project a prospect to be among the best ever at something. Pretty much by definition, it takes outlier skill development once they're in the league.

That said I'm super intrigued by Mara. In a weak class he doesn't have to be as good as Jokic to be a worthy #1 pick

[Norm2953]

The UCLA board is saying Mara has passed the admission standards to get into UCLA and likely
be enrolling in September.

It does seem possible if he has a big season in college, he will be a high lottery pick with a team
like Portland, which has a desperate need for size.

[JRoy]

The UCLA board is saying Mara has passed the admission standards to get into UCLA and likely
be enrolling in September.

It does seem possible if he has a big season in college, he will be a high lottery pick with a team
like Portland, which has a desperate need for size.

We do like to draft Spaniards.

[crows2]

I don't want to be hyperbolic but he's essentially a taller and longer Jokic right down to the middling athleticism, elite BBIQ and passing.

The difference is Jokic has other-worldly BBIQ and passing, not just elite. Easily the best ever for a C and possibly for any position in history. I’ve only seen Mara in last year’s U17 World Cup, but I highly doubt he has anything close to that.

He didn't when he was a prospect who hadn't yet been drafted. You shouldn't be comparing Mara at age 18 (and most of the film we have of him is at age 17) to Jokic at age 28.

He clearly did have otherworldly IQ; that’s a trait that’s innate, not developed. Whether or not he showed it enough as a prospect, or whether the scouts simply failed to recognise it is another question.

[Hal14]

I'm thinking Mara has got to be at least 7'4" at this point - maybe even 7'5".

Look how much taller he is than Willy Hernangomez, who is listed at 6'11"

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[clyde21]

skill is obviously there and is athletic enough to do the things he wants to do but man, I have almost zero faith that body is going to hold up long term...just really awkward movements, shoulders are high, has some knock knees to him too