The Charlotte Hornets don’t have an answer for Victor Wembanyama right now and quite frankly almost no one does. But in the 2026 NBA Draft, the franchise’s path to challenging the league’s most unguardable force might be Michigan’s Aday Mara.
The Hornets only have to play the San Antonio Spurs twice in the regular season, but what if they meet in the NBA Finals one day? Not having a counter for Wembanyama could easily sway the series very early.
The only reason Portland even sniffed a win against San Antonio was because Victor Wembanyama went down in Game 2—the lone game the Blazers managed to steal. Charlotte doesn’t play in the Western Conference, but if the Hornets ever plan on winning a championship, they’ll eventually have to go through Wembanyama most likely.
And that’s why someone like Mara is the kind of secret weapon they’ll need to have any real shot at stopping him. If Kon Knueppel likes Mara, he has to be the answer.
Aday Mara’s physical traits and defensive capabilities could allow him to effectively contest Victor Wembanyama
They say you have to fight fire with fire, and drafting Mara is exactly that. His measurements are absurd even by modern‑NBA standards: 7’3” barefoot, 260 pounds, a 7’6” wingspan, and a towering 9’9” standing reach.
The height mirrors Wembanyama, and while Wemby owns the longer wingspan, Mara actually surpasses him in standing reach and sheer mass. That combination of vertical length and physical force makes Mara one of the very few players who could realistically bother Wembanyama at the rim.
It’s an impossible assignment for almost anyone, but Mara’s frame has already translated into elite rim protection. At UCLA, his block rate peaked at a staggering 17.2 percent, and even in his lone season at Michigan he posted a strong 12.0 percent. Any double‑digit block percentage is elite territory, and it signals a natural shot‑blocking instinct you simply can’t teach.
Mara will likely be out of reach at the No. 14 overall pick
And that’s the point. To have any real chance at slowing Wembanyama, you need someone with comparable size, comparable reach, and the physical presence to make him uncomfortable. Sure, there are other defensive paths to containing him since there is another top prospect in this class who brings real defensive upside.
But none of them combine Mara’s height, reach, and natural rim‑protection instincts. Out of this entire draft, he has the best shot at matching Wemby on his own vertical plane.
Mara isn’t a finished product, but he’s one of the only prospects with the physical tools to give Charlotte a better edge in this matchup. The real question is whether he’ll even be on the board when the Hornets are on the clock.
His stock has skyrocketed since the NBA Combine, pushing him firmly into the range where a trade up becomes the only realistic path. But even that path seems unlikely given the strength of this class at the top. If Charlotte truly wants a long‑term answer to the league’s most unguardable unicorn, this is the way to combat it.
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