Dusty May’s on his way to Dallas, and he’s bringing his junkyard dog with him.
Just two months after helping bring a national championship back to Ann Arbor, forward Morez Johnson Jr. was selected by the Dallas Mavericks with the ninth overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft Tuesday night. That sets up quite the reunion between Johnson and May, the man who led the Wolverines to title glory and was named head coach of the Dallas Mavericks just yesterday.
Throughout Michigan’s unstoppable push to the championship, May referred Johnson as his enforcer. At 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, he’s big, fast and punishing on both ends of the floor. Johnson averaged 13.1 points and a team-leading 7.3 rebounds per game in the 2025-26 season, all while serving as a cog in the Wolverines’ nation-topping defensive machine. Johnson’s persistent season-long efforts were rewarded with All-Big Ten Defensive Team honors, as well as nods on the NCAA All-Tournament team and All-Big Ten second team.
In Johnson, the Mavericks receive — and May retains — a tenacious, versatile defender who earns his keep in the paint but is more than capable of guarding one through five, as a healthy array of permitter blocks and steals showcased best this past season.
As versatile as Johnson is on defense, that may be even more true when speaking to his offensive game. He was extremely effective out of the post and cleaning the offensive glass for Michigan during its championship run, but the Wolverines often made use of Johnson as a lob threat as well. In fact, as the season played out, Johnson even began letting the ball fly from beyond the arc, burying 12 of his 35 season attempts for a serviceable 34.3% 3-point shooting mark.
Once the 2025-26 season drew to a close and the banners had been raised in Ann Arbor, Johnson began posting a slew of photos and memories from the season on his social media platforms. Michigan basketball fans flocked in droves to his comment sections, begging him to return for just one more year.
After what he and his teammates accomplished last spring, Johnson would’ve been welcomed back to Ann Arbor with open arms, but he chose to chase his professional dreams in the end. Those dreams came true tonight, as the coach that led Johnson to the summit once before elected to bring him along for the next climb.
