By Jamal Baker
NDG Sportswriter
The Dallas Mavericks are set to play their first NBA Summer League game Thursday against the Golden State Warriors at 6 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
In what has been a busy offseason of roster reshaping and coaching changes, first-round picks Morez Johnson Jr. and Sergio De Larrea will make their highly anticipated professional debuts, albeit in NBA Summer League play.
Dallas selected Johnson with the ninth overall pick and drafted De Larrea 25th overall in last month’s NBA draft.
Johnson is oozing with confidence and believes his familiarity with new Mavs head coach Dusty May will allow him to thrive in his professional environment. At the University of Michigan, Johnson averaged 13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds and received Big Ten All-Defensive Team honors.
“I think I do have an advantage compared to other guys that’s just getting here this week, because I’m very familiar with it, I know what it is and I know what (May) wants out of it,” Johnson said. “(I’m) just getting a feel for all my teammates, the people I’m playing with in the summer league and helping them learn the concepts that Dusty’s putting in and helping those guys and make it easy for them.
“I’m not overwhelmed at all. It’s pretty simple. (May) just wants us to make reads and react off each other.”
Johnson stands 6-9, 255 pounds and will provide an immediate positive impact on both ends of the floor. His most natural position at the NBA level will be power forward, but he can also play small-ball five. Johnson’s athleticism, physicality and continued development as a spot-up shooter are traits that will make him a core building block around franchise cornerstone Cooper Flagg.
“I think I’m NBA ready,” Johnson said. “I think I can impact the game.”
Although the initial expectation was that De Larrea would be a “draft-and-stash” prospect, allowing him to continue his development in Spain, Dallas instead signed the 20-year-old to a four-year, $16.3 million rookie contract.
“All my life, I think I choose the best option,” De Larrea said. “Valencia was my option five years ago. More or less, we felt that this year was the time to have the next step. For that reason, I took this year as my year for going to the NBA.”
De Larrea (6-7, 202) is a combo guard that is comfortable being the primary floor general on offense. He’s an excellent three-point shooter and can operate smoothly as a pick-and-roll ball handler.
De Larrea averaged 9.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 17.6 minutes in 23 games for Spain’s Valencia Basket last season. He also won the 2025 Spanish Cup MVP after averaging 18 points in the tournament to lead Valencia to their second Spanish Super Cup trophy in team history.
“I think we have a great team,” De Larrea said. “Let’s see what happens next. We have a good team. Very excited about what’s happening with the players.”
With Johnson and De Larrea making their professional debuts, Thursday’s Summer League opener will offer the first glimpse of Dallas’ retooled roster under May.
