SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors worked out two of the most intriguing center prospects of the 2026 NBA draft class at Chase Center on Monday afternoon.
Both Morez Johnson Jr. and Chris Cenac Jr. are expected to be available when the Warriors choose with the No. 11 pick during the first round on June 23.
Either player would boost a Warriors frontcourt that had to rely on 36-year-old Draymond Green to play big minutes at center as Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford – neither a lock to return – missed large swaths of the season with injuries.
They would also provide a jolt of athleticism in a conference where young teams in Oklahoma City and San Antonio are expected to dominate for the next few years.
Johnson succeeded as a more pro-ready sophomore next to Aday Mara and Yaxel Lendeborg on Michigan’s championship team, while Cenac flashed tools as an up-and-down freshman for Houston.
The prospects present a dichotomy between pro-ready and potential.
Johnson is a throwback big man who tips the scales at 6-foot-9, 250 pounds, but also has the new-age skillset that NBA teams require from frontcourt players. He was a reliable finisher around the rim and made 65% of his 2-point field goals.
He also made 34% of his 3-pointers, but only attempted one long-range shot per game. The Michigan coaching staff wanted him to take even more.
“During the season, as I got more confident, I got more shots up,” Johnson said.
The Michigan man’s top asset is his defensive upside: He displayed a willingness and ability to protect the rim with his 7-foot-3 wingspan. He wanted to show Warriors coaches he could also defend the perimeter.
“When I was at Illinois (as a freshman), I was in drop coverage almost all of the games, and at Michigan, I was doing both and got experience and was comfortable doing it,” Johnson said.
Johnson was also an enthusiastic rebounder, averaging 7.3 boards per game. That number would have been much higher had he not been sharing the frontcourt with fellow future first-round picks Lendeborg and Mara.
“It’s insane that we could all potentially be lottery picks,” Johnson said.
Morez Johnson Jr. helped MIchigan capture the 2026 NCAA basketball championship (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Much like Johnson, Cenac projects as a center who can slide into the power forward slot.
One of the younger players in the draft at just 19 years old and only a year removed from being the top center prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, he is still very much an unfinished product.
Cenac’s 33% shooting on 3-pointers and 62% on free throws reveal a player whose mechanics need work. But his willingness to shoot from outside is encouraging after he averaged 2.4 attempts from 3.
“My game is in a really good spot right now for the NBA, but there’s so much room for growth,” Cenac said.
Despite standing at 6-11 with a 7-5 wingspan, Cenac’s instincts as a shot-blocker also need some maturing. Despite possessing all of the necessary tools to protect the rim, he only 0.5 blocks despite starting 36 games and playing 24.8 minutes a night next to fellow draft prospect Kingston Flemings. His motor can run hot and cold.
On a more encouraging note, Cenac’s rebounding is his strongest quality after averaging 7.8 rebounds per game at Houston.
But if the Warriors were to draft him, they would be making a selection based on what he could become, not what Cenac could do in Year 1. If given a few years to learn from Green and Steph Curry, perhaps those off-the-dribble jumpers, dribbling moves and passing reads can pop in the NBA game.
“Being able to space the floor, giving all the guys and Curry some space in the paint,” Cenac said when asked to envision how he would help the Warriors. “And showing my defense, defending, rebounding and doing whatever it is that Steve Kerr and the organization would need me to do on the floor.”
But for now, those possibilities are all strictly hypothetical. Can the Warriors afford to wait on a player who might not be ready to contribute until the veterans retire?
Kerr has said that whoever the team selects will be given an opportunity to play through mistakes, but picking a player such as Cenac would signal that the Warriors do not expect their lottery pick to be an impact player on Day 1.
On the other side, selecting Johnson or Lendeborg, who worked out for the Warriors last week, would be an indication the Warriors want someone who could help them fight for playoff positioning next season, rather than focusing on long-term upside.