Follow along for every pick of the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft.
Michigan needed a whole frontcourt of pros to win a national title. Tuesday night, the NBA took all three of them before the lottery was over.
It had never happened before at Michigan. Three Wolverines went in the lottery, the first time the program has produced three lottery picks in a single draft. The 1990 team sent three players into the first round, but only Rumeal Robinson went inside the lottery that year, with Loy Vaught and Terry Mills going later. On Tuesday, all three Wolverines landed in the top 12.
The last national champion to put three players in the first round was Villanova in 2018, when Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo and Omari Spellman all went in the first round. The Wildcats also had a player in drafted in the second round that year – Jalen Brunson.
Morez Johnson Jr. went first, No. 9 to the Dallas Mavericks. He is reuniting with former Michigan coach Dusty May, who left Ann Arbor for the Mavericks job this week. The first pick he made in Dallas was a player with whom he already knew how to win.
Yaxel Lendeborg went No. 11 to Golden State. He will be a 24-year-old rookie who the Warriors hope will be able to help immediately.
Aday Mara went with the next pick to Oklahoma City. The Thunder took the 7-foot-3 center who came over from Spain by way of UCLA.
None of them were Wolverines from the start. They transferred last spring and learned to play well enough together that they went 37-3, won an NCAA title and ended up lottery picks in the draft.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan makes draft history with three lottery picks from title team
