Oklahoma City Thunder signed center Aday Mara to a Rookie Scale Contract

Aday Mara earns a B- Contract Value Index (CVI) grade on his rookie scale deal with Oklahoma City, a fair-value signing that reflects exactly what you'd expect from a draft pick on a minimum contract. At $1.12M for a single year, the Thunder are paying replacement-level NBA salary for a young center still developing his game—there's no financial risk here, and the upside ceiling is entirely dependent on how quickly he translates from college to the league. The real value equation isn't about Mara's raw talent or defensive potential; it's that OKC is getting a lottery-ticket lottery-pick contract without leveraging cap space or future assets in a way that constrains a 64-win contender. Rookie scale deals across the NBA sit in this exact band, so there's no discount or markup to exploit—the Thunder signed him at standard market rate for his draft slot. The B- verdict reflects that this is a sound, cost-conscious move in an offseason where protecting cap flexibility matters, but there's nothing here that screams bargain, either. For a franchise chasing a championship window with the league's best regular-season record, plugging in a young prospect on league-minimum terms is precisely the kind of no-downside roster construction that keeps title windows open.