3 Michigan players projected as NBA 1st-round picks. Who will leave?
Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. are projected as 2026 NBA draft picks in first round. Here's a look at their draft stock.
The USA TODAY Sports Network released its latest 2026 NBA draft mock on Monday, April 6, leading into the national championship game of March Madness. Three Michigan players − Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. − are projected first-round picks, and have been all season.
The stock only rose after the Wolverines won the NCAA title to complete and incredible 37-3 season . Mara and Johnson both can return to Michigan for what is once again a loaded roster for the 2026-27 season should they choose, but Lendeborg, a transfer, is out of eligibility after winning Big Ten player of the year. Here's a look at the draft stock for all three Michigan players, courtesy of Bryan Kalbrosky , senior NBA staff writer at USA TODAY's For The Win.
Find all 30 picks for the first round in the full mock draft . 8. Memphis Grizzlies: F Yaxel Lendeborg BORN: New Jersey HEIGHT: 6-9 DRAFT AGE: 23 Kalbrosky: The Grizzlies could add to their rebuilding core after trading away Jaren Jackson Jr.
by selecting Yaxel Lendeborg, who has shown on his way to the men’s collegiate national championship game that he is perhaps the most NBA-ready player in this draft class. The Big Ten Player of the Year offers a bit of everything on both sides of the ball and has silenced skeptics who were unsure how his game would scale after transferring from mid-major UAB to high-major Michigan. The Grizzlies have drafted players with similar trajectories like Jaylen Wells and Cedric Coward.