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oct 16 2026Four days before his official NBA debut, Aday Mara faces a battle at home. Casademont Zaragoza, the club where he developed, has released a statement asserting that the center has a valid contract with the organization through the 2026-27 season and that, if it receives a request for an international transfer to allow him to play with the Oklahoma City Thunder, it will formally oppose granting it.
The Aragonese club clarifies that it has not yet received that request and that the processing falls to the Spanish Basketball Federation, FIBA, and the NBA. But it makes its position clear: it says it communicated it "following the NBA Draft held in June 2026" to the FEB, FIBA, the NBA, and the Thunder themselves, and has reiterated it since, so "it constitutes a matter known to all parties involved".
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A conflict dating back to 2023
The dispute is not new. Mara left Zaragoza in the summer of 2023 to join UCLA, and the club took legal action at that time. In its statement, Casademont explains why it didn't stop him then: the NCAA is not part of the FIBA system and does not require an international transfer, so the club "did not condition his departure on the granting of a transfer, but rather defended its rights in court". That, it insists, "does not mean that departure terminated the contract or that the player was outside the FIBA system". The NBA, on the other hand, does require this document for players with contracts at a FIBA club. According to El Español, the legal case remains unresolved and the contract included a release clause of €700,000.
Is his debut at risk?
That's the big question. The statement does not by itself prevent Mara from playing, and El Español reports that some sources consulted by Heraldo de Aragón believe he could debut without the document. The Thunder begin the regular season on Tuesday, October 20 in San Antonio. Neither the franchise nor the FEB have commented so far.
The club closes its statement with a dual message: it wishes Mara "the best possible career in his new sporting challenges", but reminds him that it has "the obligation to protect its rights" and will take "the necessary legal measures".
