2026 NBA draft thread

[Winter]

I'm not sure there's a good comp for Johnson. He has Duren's physique (6'10" - 250) but consider what Morez did in the combines....

Lane agility drill: 10.59 seconds (second among forwards)
Shuttle run: 2.91 seconds (12th among forwards)
Three-quarter sprint: 3.17 seconds (seventh among forwards)
Standing vertical leap: 33.5 inches (seventh among forwards)
Max vertical leap: 39.0 inches (eighth among forwards)

So he has the interior presence of Duren (a center) and the agility of a good NBA forward

[KillerLeft]

I'm not sure there's a good comp for Johnson. He has Duren's physique (6'10" - 250) but consider what Morez did in the combines....

Lane agility drill: 10.59 seconds (second among forwards)
Shuttle run: 2.91 seconds (12th among forwards)
Three-quarter sprint: 3.17 seconds (seventh among forwards)
Standing vertical leap: 33.5 inches (seventh among forwards)
Max vertical leap: 39.0 inches (eighth among forwards)

So he has the interior presence of Duren (a center) and the agility of a good NBA forward

The best possible comps have already been made, imo: Al Horford and Bam Adebayo. 

Assuming he's as impactful as either on the defensive end (which is my confident hope), the question will be whether he can find a niche that fits with the team on offense. He doesn't have to be Adebayo on that end, but I wouldn't say it's impossible. As long as he can become a spot up shooter and connector comparable to Horford, he's basically guaranteed to be a long tenured contributor to winning who's coveted around the league, imo.

[Winter]

The one factor I feel good about is Dusty's ability to make Johnson fit the team.

[KillerLeft]

I think this comp is imperfect, because Johnson seems smarter, higher motored, more able to play the 5 and just generally more talented than this dude to me, but for a glimpse at what Johnson's FLOOR might be...what about Jabari Smith?

Again, apples to oranges, in a sense, but...I'd say that's a good comp in terms of an impactful defender (although significantly less so than I'd hope for Johnson) whose utility on offense is basically only spot up shooting. I think that's sort of the worst case scenario, and it's a player most teams would want.

[Chicagojk]

The more I read about Johnson, I think he had to be the target for OKC right? He would have been perfect for them. Of course, I could be wrong about that.

[KillerLeft]

The more I read about Johnson, I think he had to be the target for OKC right?  He would have been perfect for them.  Of course, I could be wrong about that.

I think maybe that's why the Mavs weren't able to trade down, yeah. I think their "trade down" target would've been Ament, because it would've resulted in both Johnson and Burries being off the board.

[mvossman]

The more I read about Johnson, I think he had to be the target for OKC right?  He would have been perfect for them.  Of course, I could be wrong about that.

Yep. I had OKC drafting him at 12. I had a top 11 guys and then a big drop off and they were the first 11 off the board. A trade back to 12 would have sucked.

[KillerLeft]

Yep. I had OKC drafting him at 12. I had a top 11 guys and then a big drop off and they were the first 11 off the board. A trade back to 12 would have sucked.

Who was 11th for you? Lendeborg?

EDIT: I just re-read your post. You've already answered this, sorry.

[mvossman]

Who was 11th for you? Lendeborg?

Yep. The age is a problem, but he was one of the 11 guys I think has a good chance to be a quality/plus NBA starter.

[KillerLeft]

Yep. The age is a problem, but he was one of the 11 guys I think has a good chance to be a quality/plus NBA starter.

Gotcha, and even if he somehow fell to 12th, which he probably wouldn't have...not a great outcome for a team trying to rebuild around a 19 year old.

[windjc]

Yep. The age is a problem, but he was one of the 11 guys I think has a good chance to be a quality/plus NBA starter.

Dusty May 100% disagreed with you. You STILL like your take???

[mvossman]

Dusty May 100% disagreed with you. You STILL like your take???

What exactly do you think Dusty disagreed with?

[windjc]

What exactly do you think Dusty disagreed with?

Ok did I miss something? He disagree that Lendenburg would be the better pro than Rex. 

He disagreed with your assessment. He thought Rex was AT A MINIMUM the 9th best player in this draft.

And he seems to think Rex will be more than a typical starter.

If you are going to correct me please come back with where I completely misunderstood your board and not some pedantic logical workaround leap that suggests somehow your opinion and the Mavs draft could in anyway be aligned.

[mvossman]

Ok did I miss something? He disagree that Lendenburg would be the better pro than Rex. 

He disagreed with your assessment. He thought Rex was AT A MINIMUM the 9th best player in this draft.

And he seems to think Rex will be more than a typical starter.

If you are going to correct me please come back with where I completely misunderstood your board and not some pedantic logical workaround leap that suggests somehow your opinion and the Mavs draft could in anyway be aligned.

The post you are responding to said I had 11 guys I though had a good chance to be plus starters and both Rez and Yaxel were on it.  Not sure how that conflicts with anything you are saying?

[windjc]

The post you are responding to said I had 11 guys I though had a good chance to be plus starters and both Rez and Yaxel were on it.  Not sure how that conflicts with anything you are saying?

Well I missed the part about Rex being on that list. So he was 10th or better on your board?

[mvossman]

Well I missed the part about Rex being on that list. So he was 10th or better on your board?

Yes.  He was 10th.  I'm sure May had him higher than that.

[windjc]

Yes.  He was 10th.  I'm sure May had him higher than that.

Wow for someone who slotted him exactly 1 spot lower than Burries with a super endorsement from the new coach you do seem really fixated on “playmaking” and “creation” when creators are easier to find than Draymond Greens.

[mvossman]

Wow for someone who slotted him exactly 1 spot lower than Burries with a super endorsement from the new coach you do seem really fixated on “playmaking” and “creation” when creators are easier to find than Draymond Greens.

You can win a championship without a Draymond Green.  You can't without enough creation.  Don't think Green is the right comp anyways.  They are very different offensive players.  To be clear most of comments are not complaints about the draft pick, just recognition of a lot more work to be done.

[windjc]

You can win a championship without a Draymond Green.  You can't without enough creation.  Don't think Green is the right comp anyways.  They are very different offensive players.  To be clear most of comments are not complaints about the draft pick, just recognition of a lot more work to be done.

Rex is going to be a lot better on O than you realize. Green was t much of a creator coming out of college.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

To me, Burries would have helped in creation, ball handling and most of all that is lacking in the backcourt.
But he would have been a ball-handling SG who can do spot minutes at PG.
Mavs would still be shopping for a PG.

Morez's pick is justifiable not just of his play, but also how the lineup can turn out. As Burries can do spot-minutes at PG, Morez would most likely have a role more than just someone who can do small ball 5 in spurts specially if it turns out that DLive may not be the long term C for the Mavs.

IMHO, both Burries and Morez have limited ceilings, and the Mavs just went after the safer floor.

If this would have been Morez vs. Flemmings -- I would have flamed the Mavs for not taking a PG who most likely would have been decent-to-good in year 1.