How will the Mavs address another frontcourt logjam?
Judging by the guard-needy Dallas Mavericks' top-10 positioning in a guard-heavy 2026 NBA Draft, many considered their selection of Michigan big man Morez Johnson Jr. as the first real surprise of Tuesday's first round, even acknowledging the connection to Wolverines-turned-Mavs coach Dusty May.
"We were thrilled that Morez was there when we were choosing 9, and we think he fits perfectly with what we're trying to do," general manager Mike Schmitz said. "It's not always about position. A lot of it is about mentality and what are you bringing from an intangible standpoint. What are you bringing from a competitiveness standpoint? He's a home run in all those areas."
And while there are still things to be happy about here - like Johnson's relentless motor, translatable defensive traits, and signs of steady offensive improvement - multiple worries remain.
The Mavs' guard depth is a concern. Kyrie Irving, 34, is returning from a lost season while rehabbing a torn ACL. Klay Thompson is 36 and coming off one of his worst seasons ever, statistically. Ryan Nembhard and Brandon Williams have shown upside, but their defense and consistency are problematic.
Dallas did sneakily acquire Spanish guard Sergio De Larrea, a 6-6 smooth operator who can playmake and has years of top Euro experience, but there's no guarantee he makes the roster - let alone carves out a spot in the rotation any sooner than the other players who have a head start.
And when it comes to the frontcourt, Johnson's addition creates a logjam.
The Mavs, in one form, have been in this position before. The generational talent Cooper Flagg, at 6-9, was joining big men Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, P.J. Washington, and Daniel Gafford at this time last year, which caused fans to scratch their heads at how the team would get them all efficient minutes. Naji Marshall and Caleb Martin sometimes saw themselves playing down low, too, adding to the schematic headache.
The Point Flagg experiment failed, wins were a scarcity, Lively and Gafford were injured throughout the year, and Davis was traded at the deadline. That's how things went.
Are the Mavs in that position again? We'll have to wait and see. The addition of May at least brings a different perspective on how to conduct things.
A more realistic future, however, is the Mavs moving on from at least one of their bigs.
Gafford and Thompson have been featured in trade talks for a good chunk of the offseason. Washington has been mentioned, as well, in scenarios where the Mavericks go big game hunting. The veteran big man Gafford, as one of the more productive No. 2 centers in the league, has a competitive market, and his restructured contract with Dallas makes a trade more cap-friendly than otherwise, with the Mavs having a future-forward strategy.
The same goes for Thompson (in benefitting Dallas' finances), who I expect won't have any larger role next season as Max Christie continues to improve and Irving mans the offense. Because the Mavs are hoping to go younger and build chemistry around Flagg, either Williams, Nembhard, or even De Larrea will be given earlier cracks at earning substantial minutes over the former Splash Bro.
Dallas is armed with more capital in Wednesday evening's Round 2, so a trade could be in the works. For now, a versatile forward is coming to Big D as the first major addition - outside of his former college coach - under the Masai Ujiri regime.
"You gotta be ready for everything with the NBA Draft," Schmitz said. "We feel this went according to plan, and we were able to execute the plan and vision we had in place. Morez is obviously a massive win for us, and just to add a player like that and a person like that is huge for the organization."
