Winning pays, and the Michigan Wolverines basketball team is proving that. The Wolverines went into March Madness with three first-round NBA Draft prospects, but all of Aday Mara, Yaxel Lendeborg, and Morez Johnson Jr. were viewed as mid-to-late first-rounders, and not clear-cut lottery guys.
Now, it seems as though all three have a chance to be selected within the first 14 picks of the 2026 NBA Draft. Mara, the team's 7-foot-3 center, will likely be the first Michigan player to hear his name called. The Spanish big man is an incredible rim protector and has displayed some shooting touch. Lendeborg was Michigan's best player. A due-it-all forward with great strength, a legit handle, and an improving 3-point jumper, only Lendeborg's age will scare off some teams. Even so, he still seems like a lottery talent for teams hoping to land a win-now prospect.
It is Johnson who has been shooting up draft boards the most as of recent. It wasn't long ago that Johnson was viewed as a late first-round pick, but now he is regularly being mocked in the lottery, and he may even surpass Lendeborg on draft night. Johnson is a high motor player who gives it his all on both sides of the floor.
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He can clean up the glass, defend shots down low, and finish alley-oops and putbacks. The Illinois-turned-Michigan player was picked 13th overall by the Miami Heat in ClutchPoints' most recent mock draft.
“Morez Johnson Jr. is a classic Erik Spoelstra type of prospect for the Heat to want simply because of his effort, intensity, and physicality on both sides of the court,” Brett Siegel reported in his mock draft. “The Heat have been lacking gritty play, and Kel'el Ware isn't a physical big man like [Bam] Adebayo. By bringing in Johnson, the Heat would be adding an impactful secondary frontcourt talent capable of expanding his offensive game to the perimeter.”
Mara has sky-high potential, and Lendeborg might be the best contributor of the Michigan trio from day one, but Johnson combines a translatable skill set with advanced potential, making him the most intriguing Michigan prospect to many.
Winning pays, and the Michigan Wolverines basketball team is proving that. The Wolverines went into March Madness with three first-round NBA Draft prospects, but all of Aday Mara, Yaxel Lendeborg, and Morez Johnson Jr. were viewed as mid-to-late first-rounders, and not clear-cut lottery guys.