2026 NBA draft thread

[Tyler]

Maybe the draft and stash refers to De Larrea having a current contract with Valencia he recently signed?

Incoming buy-out if the Mavs want him to play.

Dumont has clearly shown that money won't be an issue.

[Torielp10]

Can’t wait to see Ryan nembhard and MoJo in summer league. They are going to make each other look so good. Hopefully Sergio plays too but isn’t he still in season right now over seas? Also excited about poulikadas and his development

[Chicagojk]

Hollinger tends to have off the grain rankings but he had Sergio above Johnson on his board. 16 vs 17


I will need to watch both. Johnson was not a focus of mine. I will need to watch Sergio as well.

I was not a Burries fan but at the moment I think I would have preferred him and peat.


I assume Dallas would have e taken a point guard at 9 but when all went they were left with the Michigan trio, ament and Burriies and they picked the player they liked most. At least that is what I hope.

[DL2RimRocker]

Hollinger tends to have off the grain rankings but he had Sergio above Johnson on his board.  16 vs 17


I will need to watch both.  Johnson was not a focus of mine.  I will need to watch Sergio as well. 

I was not a Burries fan but at the moment I think I would have preferred him and peat.


I assume Dallas would have e taken a point guard at 9 but when all went they were left with the Michigan trio, ament and Burriies and they picked the player they liked most.  At least that is what I hope.

I think Larrea will become a very good player for us someday. 

Rez should make an immediate impact and could very well be a starter on day one depending on moves that are made this summer. I just think fans shouldn't expect too much from Rez on the offensive end for a few years. He appears to be competitive and should become our enforcer. I liked it when Jay said he plays with a bit of an attitude which indicates he plays aggressive.

[DL2RimRocker]

Rez's measurements are similar to Robert Williams and Isaiah Stewart.
Is he a similar player or completely different?

[DL2RimRocker]

It will most likely be a long time before we can get excited about a draft as Mavs fans unless Masia decides to clean house and acquire some picks.

[Chicagojk]

Rez's measurements are similar to Robert Williams and Isaiah Stewart.
Is he a similar player or completely different?

Tim McMahon said he has heard comparisons to bam and Horford.  

Horford, similar to Johnson, was on a stacked team and filled a role.  He has obviously had a long career and grown his game.  Been a nice piece for winning teams for a while.

Bam, came out after his freshman year instead of a sophomore year like Johnson.  He has grown his offensive game to be a. All star player.  Not a top guy.  Probably best as a 2 or 3 on a championship team.

A nice mix of those would be worth the pick obviously.  I am just not sure yet.  We can hope there is much more to his game and just fit into a role he needed to fill on a deep and big team.

[SleepingHero]

Rez's measurements are similar to Robert Williams and Isaiah Stewart.
Is he a similar player or completely different?

A bit different to Robert Williams. 

Similar to Stewart, but a more impactful defender. In college, players shot 33% when guarded by him. And he is much more fluid/quick. He truly can guard 1-5. 

Honestly reminds me a lot of Draymond Green, but is bigger and a much worse passer. 

Offensively, he is a rim roller but more importantly a cutter. Almost 60% of all of his points came off of cuts. Which speaks to his versatility. 

He has the ability to dribble the ball up the court in transition. And he doesn't have the ability to turn off. His motor is always on. 


High end if everything turns out, he can be a highly athletic Al Horford or even a Bam Adebayo type defender. 

Low end- Bobby Portis who can't really shoot. PJ Tucker without a shot.

[SleepingHero]

Honestly, looking ahead, forgetting the current roster

Just a wing tandem of Morez and Cooper is crazy defensively. A brick wall on defense that is switchable, fast, and athletic.

If Lively is healthy, even better. But we need at least 2 of those 3 to become okay shooters for it to really work.

[Chicagojk]

Honestly, looking ahead, forgetting the current roster

Just a wing tandem of Morez and Cooper is crazy defensively. A brick wall on defense that is switchable, fast, and athletic.

If Lively is healthy, even better. But we need at least 2 of those 3 to become okay shooters for it to really work.

We need lively healthy first, but I really hope May can really help him grow.   Look at Amara at UCLa.  He had a good feel but really was a non factor.  Danny wolf is a different player but he got him the ball a lot.

Lovely makes quick decisions but when he is on the floor he treats the ball like a hot potato.  It would be great to expand his game a bit and really take advantage of the play making.  I don’t think he is as good as Mara passing but I think he is more advanced than he has shown. .

[khaled1987]

Sergio is such Schmitz and draftexpress pick. The guy is a starter in a team playing in the ACB finals (Spanish league finals) and they are leading 2-1 against a strong Barcelona team. That's impressive at the age of 20.


He is younger than a guy like Burries for example, has the same height and plays both guard positions, while playing in a much stronger level. Has good 3pt shooting, and couod play with Kyrie or as lead guard.

Unlikely to know his status before the finals are over, which cpuld be today or on 27th.

I like the pick tbh

[F Gump]

Schmitz said in his press conference that they're "looking forward to tomorrow, you know...have a 2nd round pick." Seems like they still have 48, at least.

In the PC video I saw, Schmitz made this ^ comment - so I figure it was the same one. In that entire PC there was nothing asked or said about De Larrea pick at all. It was only about Morez (and May), so it must have been held early, after the Morez pick. Point being, what happened with De Larrea had not yet occurred, so not an indicator for us of where they may have ended up on picks.

ESPN says the Mavs only have 1 SRP coming. Tankathon says 2. It's possible they have 0. Who knows?

[Mavs2021]

Honestly, looking ahead, forgetting the current roster

Just a wing tandem of Morez and Cooper is crazy defensively. A brick wall on defense that is switchable, fast, and athletic.

If Lively is healthy, even better. But we need at least 2 of those 3 to become okay shooters for it to really work.

I wanted Wilson for that reason and he obviously is better offensively right now and maybe forever, but truth be told, if I look into Wilson´s eyes I see Brandon Ingram. When you look into Johnson´s eyes you can tell all the lights are fully on and they are very bright.

It´s not hard to get some playmakers on this team. We could send a lottery protected 1st to the Bucks for Herro, Thompson/Middleton/Martin to Miami. Simons/White/Sexton are MLE 6th man options, so are Schroeder and Monk for the TPE.

Irving/Schroeder/DeLarrea
Herro/Christie/Simons
Flagg/Marshall/Ishchenko
Washington/Johnson/Bagley
Lively/Gafford/Cisse

Only guys over 30 would be Schroeder and Irving. Everybody else is easily still in their physical prime for the next 4-5 years.

[hakeemfaan]

After the initial rationalization , acceptance and even defense of the Morez pick, feeling underwhelmed today. We talked about tiers in the draft and then the Mavs selected a lower tier player as per almost all draft experts.

Hope it works out and that Morez can be a 3D player at multiple positions than just be a very good undersized center.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7382887...hollinger/

Grades for all 30 picks by the Athletic.


Dallas 9th pick Morez Johnson. I’m a big fan of the versatility Johnson brings defensively, and it’s hard for me to see how he doesn’t end up being a useful player on a winning NBA team. He allows a team to play multiple coverages on defense and can help a team have flexibility to go big or small, depending on the roster around him. If you want to kill the glass, you should play him at the four. If you want to go smaller and more mobile, he should be able to deal with most centers at the five.

Johnson could expand his value if the 3-point jumper comes along. If the Mavs could go five-out with Johnson at center, he would have a shot to close games in playoff situations. But the question is simply what kind of value Johnson will provide on offense, and if that will allow him to be more of a starting big or a third big. Even as a third big, I like the value proposition in the middle of the first round because I am willing to bet on Johnson’s character and toughness.

Hollinger’s analysis: Surprise! I’m a fan of Johnson, but not quite at this level. I think his offensive limitations are a bit much to select him in the top 10 in such a strong draft. He also has some positional questions on this roster since the frontcourt is so loaded already. Shockingly, he goes ahead of his two Michigan teammates (Aday Mara and Lendeborg), both of whom most had rated higher throughout the draft cycle. Obviously, you wonder how much influence the newly hired coach (and former Michigan head coach) Dusty May had on all this. Grade: C+



25th pick Sergio De Larrea De Larrea is a skilled player with a high basketball IQ, and those are the kind of players I tend to value highly. I understand why a team would want to take a flier late in the first round on him.

He can shoot, and I love the way he sees the game as a passer or playmaker. But because I don’t love the suddenness or tightness of his handle, I’m not sure he can be anything more than a secondary playmaker in the NBA. That’s OK, but I haven’t seen much that makes me think he’ll separate effectively. To play in the NBA in that role, he’ll have to max out his shooting ability and get considerably stronger to be effective on defense. Ultimately, I believe De Larrea will play in the NBA, but he has some work to do to stick.

Hollinger’s analysis: I love this pick for Dallas. I had De Larrea in my top 15 and think teams slept on him while he was hugely productive in Spain the past two years. The Mavs gave up two seconds to move up from No. 30 and make sure they got him, which I see as a justifiable investment given the talent cliff that hit basically right after this pick. He’s a Bogdan Bogdanović-type guard with good size who can shoot and pass and should help Cooper Flagg whether he’s on or off the ball. Grade: A

[JamesConway816]

Offensively Morez is a lot closer to Robert Williams than Horford. He plays with force not finesse like Big Al. 

He is a lob catcher, cutter and hopefully one day also a pick and pop and corner three player on offense who is a killer in transition and a stud defender. But he will probably never be a creator for himself in iso situations or for others out of the post.

He can be a starter from day one in the Gafford / Lively role. I hope that is the direction they will go and then hopefully DLive can revive his career off the bench behind him.

Gafford I would trade. Or you keep him if Lively‘s medical outlook is not good but man that would hurt. I still am a believer tbh. Tyson 2.0

[Winter]

Offensively Morez is a lot closer to Robert Williams than Horford. He plays with force not finesse like Big Al. 

He is a lob catcher, cutter and hopefully one day also a pick and pop and corner three player on offense who is a killer in transition and a stud defender. But he will probably never be a creator for himself in iso situations or for others out of the post.

He can be a starter from day one in the Gafford / Lively role. I hope that is the direction they will go and then hopefully DLive can revive his career off the bench behind him.

Gafford I would trade. Or you keep him if Lively‘s medical outlook is not good but man that would hurt. I still am a believer tbh. Tyson 2.0

It's hard to imagine Gafford not being traded. It feels like they've been busy shopping Gafford for a month now.

Agree that Morez is probably closer to Williams in terms of raw power, but neither of those guys feels like the right comp to me. The coach had Morez frequently out on the perimeter in certain offensive situations, and when he was playing inside, he got put-backs and cleaned up everything on the glass. He got more rebounds that Mara did. 

In almost every analysis I saw, they raved about his work ethic and his lockerroom demeanor. The Michigan team relied on him as the team leader. He was a real connector on that team, and I think he's going to make a great companion to Flagg.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

“As far as the discussion with Joe and I, I think at that point there was probably some talks about trades and things like that, but ultimately we were in all in agreement to land on taking Yaxel," Dunleavy told reporters. "From our standpoint, we knew we were going to pick Yaxel at 11, he was the guy. But you just want to flush him out, make sure you're not missing anything that falls in your lap or makes a ton of sense. So that's what we were doing. And I think Joe was like, 'Come on, just let's go ahead and pick the guy.’ I said, 'Joe, we have time. They give you five minutes.' He was just getting a little anxious about us taking Yaxel. “The good thing was, because we were on the clock, nobody could swoop in and take him ahead of us. So I was willing to be patient with it.”

NBC Sports Bay Area

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Labaron Philon says he talked to Jameer Nelson and connected with the Sixers at the draft combine. Seems excited about playing with Maxey and Edgecombe.

x.com

[JamesConway816]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7382887...hollinger/

Grades for all 30 picks by the Athletic. 


Dallas 9th pick Morez Johnson.  I’m a big fan of the versatility Johnson brings defensively, and it’s hard for me to see how he doesn’t end up being a useful player on a winning NBA team. He allows a team to play multiple coverages on defense and can help a team have flexibility to go big or small, depending on the roster around him. If you want to kill the glass, you should play him at the four. If you want to go smaller and more mobile, he should be able to deal with most centers at the five.

Johnson could expand his value if the 3-point jumper comes along. If the Mavs could go five-out with Johnson at center, he would have a shot to close games in playoff situations. But the question is simply what kind of value Johnson will provide on offense, and if that will allow him to be more of a starting big or a third big. Even as a third big, I like the value proposition in the middle of the first round because I am willing to bet on Johnson’s character and toughness.

Hollinger’s analysis: Surprise! I’m a fan of Johnson, but not quite at this level. I think his offensive limitations are a bit much to select him in the top 10 in such a strong draft. He also has some positional questions on this roster since the frontcourt is so loaded already. Shockingly, he goes ahead of his two Michigan teammates (Aday Mara and Lendeborg), both of whom most had rated higher throughout the draft cycle. Obviously, you wonder how much influence the newly hired coach (and former Michigan head coach) Dusty May had on all this. Grade: C+



  25th pick Sergio De Larrea    De Larrea is a skilled player with a high basketball IQ, and those are the kind of players I tend to value highly. I understand why a team would want to take a flier late in the first round on him.

He can shoot, and I love the way he sees the game as a passer or playmaker. But because I don’t love the suddenness or tightness of his handle, I’m not sure he can be anything more than a secondary playmaker in the NBA. That’s OK, but I haven’t seen much that makes me think he’ll separate effectively. To play in the NBA in that role, he’ll have to max out his shooting ability and get considerably stronger to be effective on defense. Ultimately, I believe De Larrea will play in the NBA, but he has some work to do to stick.

Hollinger’s analysis: I love this pick for Dallas. I had De Larrea in my top 15 and think teams slept on him while he was hugely productive in Spain the past two years. The Mavs gave up two seconds to move up from No. 30 and make sure they got him, which I see as a justifiable investment given the talent cliff that hit basically right after this pick. He’s a Bogdan Bogdanović-type guard with good size who can shoot and pass and should help Cooper Flagg whether he’s on or off the ball. Grade: A

Great analysis Imo. A lot more consistent Imo compared to other reactions. I find it hard to understand the extremely positive post draft reactions to Morez when he was consistently mocked later.

Theory: I think he might be such a great presence in person that that may have overshadowed some of the oncourt limitations. Going on a podcast here & there certainly helps the public image. OTOH I find Hollinger‘s take a lot more nuanced tbqh.

That said I still hope they go to war with him and start him immediatedly. He has a clear role in our halfcourt offense from day one as a rim runner and the rest of his game is NBA ready anyway.

I really hope he figures out the NBA three point shot then you got a high level rotation combo big who can make tons of lineups work. Like a more in your face physical Maxi Kleber one day. That is a player who can close NBA playoff games for you with absurd positive impact stats.