The 2026 NBA Draft is officially in the books. The Dallas Mavericks selected Morez Johnson Jr. out of Michigan, who is coming off a national championship with new head coach Dusty May, and Spanish point guard Sergio De Larrea in the first round. They also took a couple of fliers in the second round in Tobi Lawal and Vsevolod Ishchenko.
The second-round picks are crapshoots, so it's hard to judge the Mavs. Their first-round selections, however, raised some eyebrows around the league. Especially the decision to reach early for Johnson was one of the more polarizing decisions of the draft.
Now it's time to focus on what these selections actually mean for the team. Who will benefit the most, and who will suffer from the Mavs' controversial draft?
Winner: Head Coach Dusty May
It's nearly impossible to deny that Dusty May was involved in the process of drafting Johnson. In most mock drafts, the Michigan power forward was more of a mid-first-round pick. It's safe to assume that if it weren't for May, the Mavs would have gone in a different direction with the No. 9 pick.
There is nothing inherently wrong with this. Any head coach would want to work with players they are familiar with.
What makes May a winner here is that not every team would have given their new head coach this much power right away. The No. 9 selection is arguably the biggest decision the Mavs will make this summer. The fact that they trusted May enough to go with Johnson suggests that the 49-year-old head coach will have power within the organization.
Loser: Cooper Flagg
Unfortunately, the same can't be said about the Mavericks' franchise star. The organization still doesn't seem to know exactly what Flagg's best position and role are. They are also not surrounding him with the right players.
Johnson Jr. is going to be yet another non-shooter in the rotation around Flagg. The Mavericks already have two centers who don't space the floor. Johnson, as the power forward next to either of these centers, creates all sorts of spacing issues. Add in the likes of Caleb Martin and Naji Marshall, and the Mavs frontcourt becomes very limited in shooting.
This also suggests that Flagg will continue to play down a position. Despite his best position being obviously power forward, the Mavs don't seem to think so. They want him more on the perimeter. That's fine, but he is also not surrounded with enough shooting for the space to be effective.
The Flagg-Johnson-Dereck Lively II trio has a ton of defensive upside, but the offensive fit leaves plenty to be desired. Kyrie Irving's return will help, but there isn't enough offensive firepower on this team. This is not the optimal offensive ecosystem for Flagg to showcase his skills.
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