The Dallas Mavericks made everyone do a double take on draft night. When they called Morez Johnson Jr.’s name at No. 9, the reaction in the green room and on social media was basically the same — wait, who?
It wasn’t a bad pick, necessarily. It was just unexpected. Most mock drafts had Johnson going somewhere in the mid-to-late teens. A few had him sliding out of the lottery entirely. But the Mavs saw something they wanted, and they went and got him.
The backstory here matters. Dallas hired Dusty May away from Michigan on Monday. That move itself was a surprise. So when they picked at No. 9 less than 24 hours later, the natural assumption was they’d take one of May’s former Wolverines. Aday Mara or Yaxel Lendeborg made more sense on paper. Both are bigger names. Both had longer draft projections. But May wanted Johnson.
What Schmitz had to say
Mavericks general manager Mike Schmitz didn’t dance around the reasoning. He got right to it in his post-draft comments.
“Morez brings the type of toughness and competitiveness that we’re looking for,” Schmitz said. “High energy guy. Incredible motor. Winner. Has done it at the highest level in college basketball and did so as a 20-year-old, too. He’s young for his class. He brings that type of energy and toughness that we want here in Dallas.”
Schmitz also brought up something that’s kind of rare in the NBA draft — the coach connection carrying over from college.
“And the familiarity piece is gonna be huge,” he said. “It’s obviously a very unique situation to be able to play for your college coach at the NBA level. So really excited to have Morez and Dusty as well.”
Why this matters for Dallas
The Mavs have been hunting for an identity shift. They’ve got talent but they’ve lacked that edge, that relentless pressure on both ends. Johnson gives them that. He’s not a polished scorer or a smooth three-point shooter. But he rebounds like his life depends on it. He defends multiple positions. He sets screens that leave dents.
And yeah, the fact that he already knows May’s system — that matters more than people want to admit. Most rookies spend their first season trying to figure out what the coach wants. Johnson already knows. That could mean real minutes from day one.
There’s still the question of whether they could’ve traded back and still gotten him. But Schmitz isn’t losing sleep over it. “You take your guy when you can,” he said. “We didn’t want to risk it.”
We’ll see how it plays out. Detroit and Charlotte both had picks in the teens and were reportedly interested. So maybe the Mavs were right to pull the trigger early.
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