SAN FRANCISCO – While the terse exchange between Golden State Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy and owner Joe Lacob will circulate speculation across social media, the Dubs feel like they got their guy after selecting Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg with the 11th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
In his post-draft presser, Dunleavy expressed that it was a “good first night of the draft” as he explained why the Warriors are more than satisfied to bring the 23-year-old forward to the Bay Area.
“He was the top guy for us on the board at the time, that’s why we picked him,” Dunleavy said.
“This is a guy who, historically, is off the charts in terms of his production at his age. There’s basically never been a player this good at his age, so it’s unique for us to evaluate, but I think we felt like to get him and add him into what we have checks a lot of boxes. The dribble, pass, shoot stuff, and the defensive stuff. He does a little bit of everything while having tremendous size.”
Across 40 games last season at Michigan, Lendeborg averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting 51.5% from the field and 37.3% from the 3-point line.
Throughout the pre-draft process, Dunleavy was consistent that with the talent and depth of the 2026 draft class, the Warriors should come out of draft night with a prospect.
And while he and the Warriors remained open to the possibility of a potential draft night trade, should the right package centered around an established, impact veteran fall into their lap, the third-year general manager shared that nothing of that caliber ever materialized. Nor did an opportunity to trade down and obtain a second first-round pick. In Dunleavy’s terms, “There wasn’t anything major.”
Regardless, that doesn’t sour any of the satisfaction Dunleavy and the Warriors feel about adding Lendeborg to their veteran-heavy roster.
“It’s a guy that we feel like fits with our system right away,” Dunleavy expressed. “Overall, pretty pleased with the pick.”
Addressing Yaxel Lendeborg’s older age and how he will contribute
Still, it’s hard to overlook the visually contentious exchange between Dunleavy and Lacob in the Warriors’ war room that the national broadcast caught.
When asked about what the two were discussing, Dunleavy declined to share, instead joking, “We got into it about best golf course in San Francisco. He didn’t agree with me, which you know, it’s all in the eye of the beholder.”
Dunleavy later said he believes Lacob is “happy” with the pick coming out the first night of the draft, talking about the Dubs owner’s enthusiasm for the draft process as a whole.
“He’s great, he’s so into it,” Dunleavy expressed. “He’s really excited about the pick and who we got and how we think he can help us. This year, you know, winding down the college season, knowing where we were at as a team, I think he really focused in on the college stuff and watched it, knew a lot of these guys.”
And looped into the Warriors’ excitement about Lendeborg is also the awareness of his age, one of the biggest knocks on him as a prospect.
Lendeborg will be 24 years old by the time his rookie season begins, with his older age being a trait that the NBA has long viewed as a limiter on a prospect’s future ceiling. To contextualize his outlier age a bit, Lendeborg is only a week older than the Warriors’ 2021 seventh overall pick, Jonathan Kuminga, a similarly athletic wing the team traded back in February after a long and tenuous saga.
But Dunleavy didn’t express much concern about Lendeborg’s age.
“He’s what? 23? Almost 24? I’m not worried, because he’s not 38,” Dunleavy said bluntly, with him viewing Lendeborg as the kind of player that can help Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Steve Kerr today and the post-dynasty Warriors tomorrow.
And the expectation is that the opportunity to help the Warriors right away will be there for Lendeborg. With Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody expected to miss the majority of next season with their respective injuries, Lendeborg fills a need at wing with his versatility on both ends of the floor. With his Swiss-Army knife physicals, Golden State is excited about his one-through-five defensive capabilities as well as his skill as a frontcourt playmaker and connector.
When Mike Dunleavy and the Dubs knew Yaxel Lendeborg was their guy
There was more to Lendeborg than just the profile and statistics that endeared him to Dunleavy and the Warriors. Dunleavy said the Warriors got to know Lendeborg’s “outgoing, bubbly persona” throughout the numerous pre-draft interviews, dinners, and workouts, pointing to the “positive energy” he brings to every room he steps into.
“He’ll fit great with our group,” Dunleavy said. “We always look for those types of guys, and he’s, we just feel good about knowing the player, the person we’re bringing.”
But there was a moment, an epiphany for Dunleavy, when he realized Lendeborg was the guy the Warriors should seriously consider at No. 11. In 2025, Golden State had the opportunity to evaluate the Michigan forward when he put his name into the 2025 NBA Draft before later deciding to stay in college. And a year later, it was at the combine in Chicago, when Dunleavy realized the stark difference between the guy they saw previously.
“I noticed a different guy, frankly,” Dunleavy explained. “Whether it was his experience at Michigan, his experience winning, another year of maturity, whatever it was, he was more about the right stuff. More mature, that type of thing. And that kind of made us realize– we’ve got to really consider this guy. He’s unique on the floor, and he’s about the right things as a person. That was a moment that we really kind of clued in on him.”
So, even as trade rumors, bigger picture implications, and front office drama speculation circulate in the Bay Area air, the Warriors are more than happy to add Lendeborg into their circle.
“We found a player that we loved and felt like can fit really well with how we play,” Dunleavy affirmed.
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