ANN ARBOR — Michigan’s talented roster was on full display in last week’s season opener. ESPN’s NBA draft experts took notice.
Three Wolverines would be drafted based on ESPN’s latest player rankings, released Monday. Yaxel Lendeborg headlines the list at No. 15. The 6-foot-9 forward posted 12 points (without missing a shot), four rebounds and three assists in last Monday’s 121-78 win over Oakland despite playing with his dominant (right) hand in a wrap.
“Lendeborg was immensely productive at UAB and drew NBA interest before ultimately opting to stick with Michigan, where he’ll feature prominently,” Jeremy Woo wrote. “He has touch from long range, can put the ball on the floor to create mismatches, and adds value on the glass and as a defensive playmaker.”
Lendeborg, who played the past two seasons at UAB before transferring, is a preseason AP All-American known for stuffing the stat sheet. Michigan head coach Dusty May said Monday that Lendeborg should be “close to 100 percent” for Tuesday’s game against Wake Forest in Detroit.
“His strength, mobility, length (7-4 wingspan) and well-rounded game check important boxes for a modern frontcourt player,” Woo added about Lendeborg. “The fact that Lendeborg will be 24 years old upon entering the NBA is a major caveat here, and how much development is left untapped will be a key discussion point. Scouts gripe about his bouts of passivity as a scorer. But he’s ultimately above-average in enough key areas that he should land in the first round, and he’s capable of an All-American caliber season that would help his case.”
Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. also cracked ESPN’s list of top-100 draft prospects. Mara, a 7-foot-3 junior center who played the past two years at UCLA, had 12 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks in the opener. ESPN ranked him at No. 30. If NBA teams followed that list, Mara would be the last pick of the first round in June’s draft.
Johnson, a sophomore forward from Illinois, had his best college game last week, scoring 24 points in just 20 minutes.
“It’s developed at a pretty rapid pace,” May said about Johnson’s offensive game. That’s not even Johnson’s strength. “His game is always going to be about winning the margins,” May said. “He’s a junkyard dog. It’s the loose basketballs, it’s the intensity and physicality that he brings to the game.
“And then him being able to develop as a passer, as a driver, as a catch-and-shoot guy are all things he works on daily.”
ESPN ranked him No. 60, which would make him the last pick of the second (and final) round. The outlet also pointed out which college teams were best represented on the list. Michigan was ranked eighth thanks to the three aforementioned players as well as other pro prospects Trey McKenney, L.J. Cason, Elliot Cadeau and Malick Kordel.
“If there’s one thing we know about Dusty May, it’s that he’s not afraid of unique frontcourt combinations,” Jeff Borzell wrote. “May has been raving about deploying Lendeborg in creative ways, even classifying him as a guard at Big Ten Media Day.
“Mara generated significant preseason buzz and is expected to build on the flashes he showed the last two seasons at UCLA. Johnson was one of the most efficient bigs in the country last season as a freshman at Illinois before a broken wrist slowed him down.
“Five-star freshman McKenney is a powerful perimeter scorer, while Cason has been pegged as a sleeper prospect the last two preseasons.”
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