The Golden State Warriors came away with Yaxel Lendeborg in the lottery of the 2026 NBA Draft, after reportedly receiving offers and engaging in trade talks with other teams regarding the No. 11 pick. Minutes before the Warriors selected Lendeborg, ESPN cameras caught owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. in what appeared to be a heated discussion.
While unfounded speculation ran rampant on social media, it appears as if the discussion was actually the pair rebuffing an offer to trade the pick, as per Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard. The Warriors were very high on Yaxel Lendeborg and Kawakami reported that once their initial target, Arizona guard Brayden Burries, was off the board, they quickly pivoted to the Michigan big man regardless of who else was available.
Lendeborg is the Warriors’ first lottery pick in the NBA Draft since Jonathan Kuminga in 2021. And team brass and fans alike are hoping for a different outcome than what happened with the Kuminga saga. The former G League Ignite forward never was able to find a consistent footing in head coach Steve Kerr’s rotation, and he was unceremoniously traded to the Atlanta Hawks at the deadline for a seldom-available Kristaps Porzingis.
But the 2026 national champ figures to be one of the more NBA-ready players of the draft. He is one of the oldest players selected after navigating an unorthodox pathway to the league. Lendeborg played three seasons of junior college basketball before transferring to UAB for two seasons. Although he declared for the NBA Draft last year, he opted to return for one final year of eligibility, playing a starring role in helping lead Michigan to the national championship.
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