Maybe it is wishful thinking, maybe it is a form of manifestation, or maybe it is delusion, but the Golden State Warriors have done a thorough job of puffing up rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg in recent weeks. There is good reason for that. As the team continues to wrestle with the kind of debilitating injuries that ruined the 2025-26 season and saw Golden State finish with 37 wins and a ouster in the play-in tournament, Lendeborg keeps looking like the only hope to change that trajectory.
Maybe they can get improved performances from elsewhere on the roster. But the most feasible path to a boost in performance is Lendeborg, the rookie No. 11 pick who was an NCAA champion at Michigan last season, and comes in polished and well ahead of most other rookies. That makes sense–Lendeborg is already 23 years old and, as Jimmy Butler noted, “He’s massive. He’s a big human being and he shoots the ball so incredibly well.”
Warriors Liked Brayden Burries
He also was very nearly not a member of the Warriors. Yes, entering the NBA draft, Lendeborg was the player most frequently mentioned in connection with Golden State, but it turns out that if one player had slipped through the cracks of the Top 10, the Warriors would have taken him: Arizona guard Brayden Burries.
Reporting on Lendeborg on Thursday, the Warriors’ ESPN beat writer, Anthony Slater, noted that Burries was the first choice. Word was that Golden State saw Burries as a future Devin Booker.
Wrote Slater: “On their final draft board in June, the Warriors — who owned the No. 11 pick — had Lendeborg and Arizona guard Brayden Burries ranked neck-and-neck, behind the consensus group of prospects up top. If Burries was there, team sources have indicated they would’ve drafted the 20-year-old combo guard for his upside. He had fans all over the organization.”
Yaxel Lendeborg ‘Checks All Those Boxes’
But the Bucks swiped Burries at No. 10, after the Mavericks–who had been rumored as a lock to take Burries–went with Lendeborg’s college teammate Morez Johnson. The Warriors got Lendeborg, and considering the team is already dealing with old injuries to Butler and Moses Moody, and new injuries to Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis, that’s probably a good thing.
Burries might have better upside. But Lendeborg can help a team win now, and the Warriors want to win now.
As coach Steve Kerr has said about Lendeborg: “He gives us the size and the versatility that we need. He can guard bigs. He can guard wings. He’s a connector on offense, really good passer, ball handler. I always try to check boxes with guys, evaluating them, dribble, pass, shoot, process. He checks all those boxes.”
Warriors Nearly Passed on ‘Massive’ Rookie in NBA Draft