Warriors reportedly had one NBA draft prospect ranked above Yaxel Lendeborg originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Warriors clearly thought very highly of University of Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg.
Not only did Golden State select the 6-foot-9 wing with the No. 11 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft on Tuesday night, but had him ranked as one of its top prospects in what was widely considered a very deep draft.
The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami reported in his latest column, citing a team source, that the Warriors only had one other prospect ranked higher on their board than Lendeborg.
“One team source indicated that the Warriors had Lendeborg rated about even with [Brayden] Burries and only had Duke’s Cam Boozer clearly placed on a higher level in this draft,” Kawakami wrote.
“That might or might not be some slight retro-editing of their true big board (they weren’t going to take a lead guard in this draft and that position dominated the top nine selections). But either way, the Warriors definitely always were very high on Lendeborg and definitely always weren’t so worried about his birthdate.”
The soon-to-be 24-year-old Lendeborg was one of a few prospects frequently mocked to Golden State in the weeks leading up to the draft for his potential fit with the Warriors, which the team, according to Kawakami’s report, clearly valued over some of the other consensus top prospects, most of which were guards, in the picks leading up to Golden State’s No. 11 selection.
Boozer, the only prospect the Warriors reportedly had ranked higher on their board than Lendeborg, was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the No. 3 pick.
Of course, as Kawakami alludes to, teams frequently state after the fact that the player they ended up selecting was one of, if not their highest-ranked prospect coming into the draft.
Whether or not that actually was true.
Regardless of where the Warriors actually had Lendeborg ranked pre-draft, it’s no secret the organization genuinely is excited about the pick.
