Since winning the national championship, Aday Mara, Elliot Cadeau, and Morez Johnson Jr. have all declared for the NBA Draft along with Yaxel Lendeborg, who has exhausted his eligibility. However, all three have retained their eligibility and are seemingly weighing a return to Ann Arbor.
Dusty May’s actions in the Transfer Portal, adding bigs J.P. Estrella, Moustapha Thiam, and Jalen Reed, indicate that he’s preparing for Mara and Johnson to stay in the draft. However, there are reasons to hope that both bigs, and particularly Johnson, will run it back with the Wolverines.
Another hint that they could return dropped on Sunday when incoming five-star Brandon McCoy Jr. posted an image to X of a workout he had with both Mara and Johnson. Johnson quoted the post with a yellow M emoji, which will undoubtedly fuel speculation about a potential return.
We working〽️💪🏾 https://t.co/RxZISFKBpW
— Morez Johnson Jr. (@morezjohnsonJr) April 26, 2026
Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara work out with 5-star Brandon McCoy Jr.
Johnson, Mara, and Cadeau will head to the draft combine in Chicago from May 10-17. A final decision regarding their entry into the 2026 NBA Draft must be made by May 27. So, Dusty May likely won’t get a final view of what his 2026-27 roster looks like until then.
Of the three, Mara appears most likely to leave Michigan and stay in the draft. The 7-foot-4 center dominated in the NCAA Tournament and had a standout performance against Arizona in the Final Four with 26 points on 11-16 shooting with nine rebounds and three assists.
Michigan’s three-big lineup with Johnson, Mara, and Lendeborg was its biggest advantage. It allowed the Wolverines to control the glass, earning extra possessions and limiting their opponents' opportunities at the rim while maximizing their own. However, Johnson struggled down the stretch. The 6-foot-9, 250-pound power forward shot 18-36 in the NCAA Tournament after an 8-8 outing against Howard in the first round.
Johnson still has elements to add to his game. He shot the three better than he did at Illinois in his freshman year, going 12-35 on the year after not attempting a shot from beyond the arc in the 2024-25 season. However, he’ll need to become a reliable floor-spacer to maximize his NBA upside, and returning to Michigan will allow him to do that.
A workout with McCoy and a social media post don’t guarantee that Johnson, or Mara, for that matter, will be back next year. But it’s not a bad sign to see them working with one of the newest Wolverines, especially after the addition of Reed, which appears to be a contingency plan in the front court.
Add us as a preferred source on Google