Michigan basketball has made one addition so far from the transfer portal, and with it coming up on a week since Juke Harris visited, things are in a holding pattern.
The Wolverines have started to establish some new targets, but nothing seems serious at this point. Michigan needs someone to replace Yaxel Lendeborg in the starting lineup.
Dusty May knows that for sure. Trey McKenney will fill Nimari Burnett's old role. He won't be a sixth man after re-signing. Elliot Cadeau has a clear role, too. 5-star freshman Brandon McCoy will have plenty of minutes to play, in what could be a very similar role to the one McKenney played in 2025-26.
Right now, a lot of that depends on Harris, the Wake Forest transfer, who averaged 21.4 points per game last season. He was the ACC's Most Improved Player and ranked fourth in the ACC in defensive rebounds.
Tennessee seems to have the upper hand, though. North Carolina is also in the mix. Michigan had an expert projection from Jaime Shaw of On3 at one point. He flipped it to Tennessee, but still, there hasn't been a commitment.
Michigan basketball doesn't need to panic in the transfer portal
That tells Michigan isn't out of it yet. The Wolverines have an ideal role, and exactly what Harris said he wanted, as Harris told Tony Garcia of the Detroit Free Press he wants to play for a "winning program."
Tennessee has made the Elite 8 three times in a row. North Carolina is also a winning program, but the national championship is the national championship. Michigan is waiting to hear from Aday Mara and Morez Johnson. Mara is expected to leave for the NBA draft. Johnson is more 50/50. It could go either way, but if he comes back, the Wolverines would lose three starters: Yaxel, Mara, and Burnett, but could replace them with McKenney, J.P. Estrella, and hopefully Harris.
If that doesn't happen, May will pivot quickly. The Wolverines need another player on the wing. There isn't going to be another Yaxel. However, the player most likely to fill the shoes of Lendeborg, at least from a scoring sense, is McKenney.
So Michigan just needs a Burnett-level starter at the three. Harris would be great. But Michigan didn't win a championship by spending the most money.
People actually believe that, but the Wolverines are rumored to have spent half of what Kentucky did. So if Juke wants to be a Wolverine, great. But if the price keeps going up, I trust May to find another solid option at the right price point.
So even though things feel a little sluggish, 60 percent of the starting lineup is spoken for, assuming Mara is gone (Estrella starting). That's not a terrible place to be, a little more than a week out from the portal being open.
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