SAN FRANCISCO — Yaxel Lendeborg doesn’t need to be told what’s at stake. The 11th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft knows the Warriors didn’t draft a 23-year-old with six years of college ball to stash him on the bench. They need him ready now.
Golden State’s roster is built around Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and an injured Jimmy Butler. There’s talk of LeBron James or Anthony Davis joining the mix. Either way, the window for winning is tight. Lendeborg is the injection of youth and size the team is counting on, and his Summer League debut will be the first real look at whether that bet pays off.
So his goals for the California Classic and the Las Vegas slate are straightforward.
“My goals are to obviously learn as much as I can, so whenever the season comes, I can be as prepared as possible, and I don’t lag behind everybody else,” Lendeborg said after the Warriors’ Summer League squad’s first practice together. “That and just trying to find ways to be effective rather than just the things that I’m normally good at. Finding other things to be good at.”
That self-awareness is part of what stands out about him. He’s not coming in like a typical lottery pick. He spent six years at Michigan, where he averaged 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and shot 37.3% from three. At 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-3 wingspan, he played point-forward, running the offense on one end and guarding all five positions on the other. The Warriors see him as a versatile Swiss-army knife who can plug into their system immediately.
Early returns on a veteran rookie
Khalid Robinson, the Warriors assistant coaching the Summer League squad, has already seen flashes of what Lendeborg can bring. After just one practice, Robinson pointed to a transition play where Lendeborg closed out on a shooter in the corner and blocked the shot after the ball swung from the top of the key to the wing to the corner.
“It’s that effort that he had to contest that shot transition,” Robinson said. “I’ve seen Draymond do that numerous times, Al [Horford] did that a bunch for us last year. That’s huge for us.”
Summer League teammate Malefy Leons, a former Warriors two-way player, noticed Lendeborg’s versatility across multiple possessions. “One play he is playing in the post, then next play he’s guarding the point guard, then the other side, he’s beating the guards on a ball screen,” Leons said. “He’s really good, he can really play, he can do everything. He’s massive, like a really big guy. I think he’s gonna be really good.”
The Warriors want Lendeborg to lean into exactly that. Robinson said the emphasis is on playing to his strengths — on-ball defense, rebounding, passing, physicality — and not trying to reinvent himself. Lendeborg agrees. He’s been studying Draymond Green’s film to hone the point-forward role, and he wants to show the coaching staff he can be the connector on offense while holding his own on defense.
Finding his voice
There’s also a leadership component. Lendeborg knows he was the highest pick on this Summer League roster, and he understands the weight that carries. But he’s careful not to overplay it.
“Role-wise, trying to be a leader, you know? Learn to be one,” Lendeborg said. “I was picked the highest here, so I have to act like it. But not in a way where [I’m] acting like I’m authorized or like I’m a priority or something. In a way where it’s like there’s gonna be a lot of pressure on me and a lot of eyes on me, so I have to go out there and not overdo it, but play my role, play my part.”
That balance — confidence without arrogance, awareness without hesitation — is exactly what the Warriors need from him. The games haven’t started yet. But Lendeborg’s already showing he knows what this moment requires.
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