Height: 6’9 | Wingspan: 7’3.5 | Weight: 251 lbs | Age on Draft Day: 20
College: Michigan | NBA Position: C/PF | Role: Play Finisher

The Good (Strength, Size, Tools, Instincts)

Morez is an absolute unit. 6’9 with a STRONG, lean 251 lb frame, he reminds you of those throwback bully-ball forwards from the 90’s and 00’s. Don’t let his hulking size deceive you, however. Morez is one of the most athletic and mobile defenders in the class, capable of defending most players 2-5 while utilizing elite lateral movement and hip rotations to stay in front of his man.

Morez utilizes his broad shoulders, long arms, and strong frame to absolutely lock down the paint. In the rare occasions where Morez gets blown by, he can retain his balance and use his mobility to recover effectively, altering shots or at the very least making his opponents uncomfortable. His instincts are truly impressive on film, you can see the gears turning in real time and he makes some impressive defensive moves that would be impossible for similarly sized NBA players.

A vast majority of Morez’s shots came at the rim and he was one of the premier finishers in college basketball. Michigan used pressure from their other frontcourt players to allow Morez to effortlessly time his cuts. Morez would benefit from playing with other elite frontcourt players in the league in order to benefit from that kind of gravity, but his knowledge about where to be as a play-finisher is top tier.

Morez possesses an elite motor and plays with effort on every possession, and I have faith that even if I turn out to be a little higher on him than most, he’ll have a long NBA career just due to how engaged he can get on the defensive end of the floor. Morez is active on the glass and hunts rebounds. He’ll use his strong and wide frame to overpower other players and his long arms to contest rebounds with even the biggest opposing players. He’s an active pick-and-roll defender and defends multiple positions. At his size and athletic profile, there’s some things you just can’t teach.

The Bad (Shooting?)

There really isn’t much to put in this section. Morez’s shot is still very much a work in progress. Going from a non-shooter at Illinois to now, there’s a lot to be optimistic about.

First, Morez took all of his threes at Michigan off the catch (24 attempts on 41.7% pre-March Madness). The shot still has it’s mechanical issues, but it’s a noted improvement from where he was at Illinois, and it’s obvious he has the touch to be a player who can take open threes when needed, even if that’s not his bread and butter. His free throw percentage also hints at his potential to develop his shot once he’s in the league.

Morez isn’t a creator. I wouldn’t expect him to be a post-playmaking presence or somebody who carries the ball up the court. He makes smart reads when needed but his playmaking doesn’t jump out as anything spectacular or outlier for his position.

Morez fouled a lot, and his raw defensive numbers don’t really jump off the page, but you can’t teach the kind of effort he plays with and it’s an excellent starting point for a prospect who really made a name for himself at Michigan as an all-around defensive presence. The fact that Morez can impact the game on the defensive end this much with some room to grow shows that the sky is really the limit.

The Fit (Seamless)

“Oh Brendan, we don’t need another tweener forward who can’t really shoot”. Well the good news is, dear reader, that Morez’s game translates beautifully to being a full time 5 at the NBA level. I think that fans are undergoing a phenomenon of what I’d like to refer to as “Wembyflation”, where if a big man isn’t above 7’0 then he’s not a “true big”. Nonsense. Morez, in shoes, will be the same height as many bigs in the league and has the ridiculously powerful body to match. I have no concerns about his ability to play the 5. When Aday Mara had to come off the floor for Michigan, Morez was typically the one who took the bulk of those minutes at centre, and there was no dip in his impact or production.

Morez, being an incredibly impactful player on defence while being an efficient “paint or three” player on offence, stands to fit better than any other big in the class in Toronto’s system. As a player who can move the ball on offence or finish plays through off-ball movement and cuts to the basket, expect Morez to continue to make the right reads in Darko’s ball-movement schemes. It’s difficult to find Morez making many mistakes while watching him play. I would expect his role in Toronto to be a play-finisher and hustle/energy defender, while finally filling that gap at centre the team has been missing out on for the better part of a decade. A frontcourt of Morez Johnson, Collin Murray-Boyles, and Scottie Barnes would be one of the most fearsome defensive trios in the league. Spacing still won’t be ideal for the Raptors, but shooting bigs who can stay on the floor are a lot harder to find than you’d expect.

Conclusion (He’s him)

I really struggle to find much wrong with Morez’s game. He’s unselfish, he doesn’t play beyond his skillset offensively and finishes with elite efficiency, he isn’t a shooter but has a good enough of a shot to take the occasional three, he defends and hustles with the best of them, he’s an active rebounder, mobile perimeter defender, strong and reactive rim deterrent, and he’s only 20 years old with championship experience. Do you wish that he was a couple inches taller? Sure, but Morez is the definition of a player who plays bigger than his height, and I have no concerns about his ability to match up against NBA centres. He’s practically unshakeable on both ends of the floor when it comes to playing against physicality, just due to his raw strength. If for some reason he struggles to match up against bigs full time in the league and has to stay as a 4, Morez still projects as being able to give you valuable defensive minutes as a rotation piece, so I can’t really see a scenario where he busts.

I don’t care about positions of need, and neither should you. Go for best player available – that would be Morez at pick 19 regardless of who else is on the board. Yes, Morez is expected to have a bit of a stock bump after posting some very good numbers at the draft combine, but he’s still ultimately expected to go in the Raptors’ range at the end of the day. I have yet to have many discussions with scouts who expect him to go high in the lottery, but I don’t see him falling past the Spurs at 20 either.

Consensus NBA Draft Range: 14-20

Brendan’s Ranking: 11th

Floor Projection: Rotation hustle big, energy minutes off the bench.

Ceiling Projection: High-impact, two-way starting big, capable of making an all-defence team. Fringe all star in the right scenario and if the shot continues to develop.