{"id":740787,"date":"2026-05-22T05:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T05:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/740787\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T05:33:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T05:33:15","slug":"michigans-morez-johnson-jr-slides-into-top-15-of-nba-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/740787\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan’s Morez Johnson Jr. slides into top-15 of NBA Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michigan Wolverines<\/a> men\u2019s basketball forward Morez Johnson Jr.<\/a> decided to keep his name in the 2026 NBA Draft process, and it seems the decision will pay off as his stock continues to rise.<\/p>\n

Adam Finkelstein of CBS Sports has Johnson as a top-15 pick<\/a> after staying in the draft after a stellar NBA combine. Often described as one of the mentality setters for the national champions, averaging 13.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists for the Wolverines this year.<\/p>\n

In his scenario, the Michigan forward heads to the Charlotte Hornets with the No. 14 overall selection.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohnson was one of the biggest winners of the combine, measuring bigger than expected with massive length, well-rounded athleticism, and simultaneously reaffirming the shooting gains we saw this year,\u201d Finkelstein wrote. \u201cCombine that with his rugged physicality and lateral mobility, and the versatile two-way role he played at Michigan should be extremely translatable to a Hornets team that is looking to solidify its frontline.\u201d<\/p>\n

It would still make Johnson the lowest-drafted player from Michigan\u2019s frontline last season. The highest is Aday Mara<\/a>, who comes off the board with the No. 11 pick to the Golden State Warriors. The elite rim-protecting center and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year averaged 12.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists for the champs.<\/p>\n

\u201cMara has real momentum in the draft process and could be off the board before this,\u201d Finklestein said. \u201cAt 7-foot-3 (without shoes), he\u2019s a giant, even by NBA standards, and a tremendous rim protector. He\u2019s also got sneaky mobility, good hands, real passing ability, and provides vertical spacing. With Steve Kerr returning next season, the Warriors\u2019 style of play will be staying largely the same, and Mara\u2019s facilitating ability fits that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yaxel Lendeborg<\/a>, the biggest star of this season\u2019s championship run, averaged 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists\u00a0this season en route to a Big Ten Player of the Year nod and All-American praise. He heads to the Oklahoma City Thunder in this mock scenario.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would almost be unfair if Lendeborg slid to the Thunder here,\u201d Finklestein said. \u201cHe is one of the more versatile two-way players, and specifically defenders, in the draft. At 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-3+ wingspan, he often guarded opposing point guards this year, is an excellent passer, and an improved shooter who made 37% of his threes. Like Mara, though, he\u2019s another one who may not make it this late into the lottery.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s NBA Draft is set for June 23-24 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, over two nights, splitting the first and second rounds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michigan Wolverines men\u2019s basketball forward Morez Johnson Jr. decided to keep his name in the 2026 NBA Draft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":740788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[17430,7,17431,6,12,1493],"class_list":["post-740787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba-draft","tag-aday-mara-23-casademont-zaragoza","tag-basketball","tag-morez-johnson-24-thornton-township","tag-nba","tag-nba-draft","tag-yaxel-lendeborg-21-pennsauken"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116616600546243449","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}