SAN FRANCISCO – After taking three teenagers with their last three spins in the NBA draft lottery, the Warriors on Tuesday used their spin on the oldest first-round prospect.
Selecting 23-year-old Yaxel Lendeborg with the 11th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft was profoundly logical – despite the apparent dispute that occurred in Golden State’s draft room seconds earlier.
Lendeborg is lottery-pick ancient, at least three years older than any of the 10 players chosen before him. He played 112 major-college games, the last six in the 2026 NCAA Tournament that ended with him leading Michigan to the national championship. He has been around the block enough times to know every crack in the sidewalk.
He also addresses two of the Warriors’ most significant needs, the first being a two-way wing and the second being someone who can contribute immediately.
“He can play everything,” general manager Mike Dunleavy said. “Potentially he can guard 1 to 5. Offensively, I think he’s a forward that can play some small-ball center. And just the way he handles the ball, there’s some backcourt ball-handler responsibilities he can take care of. This is the intrigue with this pick for us is the versatility.”
With both Jimmy Butler III and Moses Moody unavailable when the 2026-27 NBA season starts in October, a two-way wing topped Golden State’s wish list. It’s a wing-reliant league, as seen in the NBA playoffs. The New York Knicks don’t win it all if OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges are not riding shotgun with Jalen Brunson. The San Antonio Spurs don’t make the NBA Finals without copious support from Devin Vassell and Julian Champanie – and they might have been ousted in the Western Conference finals if Oklahoma City’s All-Star wing Jalen Williams were healthy.
A rangy wing like Lendesborg (6-foot-9, 240 pounds) was too tempting to resist. Lendeborg’s age (he turns 24 in September) was no deterrent because the Warriors are trying to squeeze as much quality hoops as possible from what remains of Stephen Curry’s career. He’s 38. Butler will be 37 when he’s cleared. Draymond Green is 36. Al Horford, should he opt in – he has been working out Chase Center – is 40.
“I’m not worried,” Dunleavy said of Lendeborg’s age, “because he’s not 38.”
For the Warriors to have any chance of soaring above any of the nine teams that finished above them in the West, it’s essential that they support the over-35 club with fresh talent. They didn’t have nearly enough last season.
Lendeborg was the top player on the best team in college basketball. He averaged 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in his only season at Michigan, winning Big Ten Player of the Year. He had transferred after two seasons at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, where his 26 double-doubles as a junior were tops in the nation.
Lendeborg’s workout at Chase Center nearly two weeks ago was impressive enough to keep him in play for the Warriors if they held firm at No. 11. With Michigan center Aday Mara and Tennessee forward Nate Ament still on the board, they opted for Lendeborg.
A brief video snippet of the Warriors draft room displaying some unease between CEO Joe Lacob and Dunleavy before making the pick was, according to the GM, a matter of impatience.
“From our standpoint he was the guy,” Dunleavy said. “But you just want to flush him out, make sure you’re not missing anything that falls in your lap or makes a ton of sense. So that’s what we were doing. And I think Joe was like, ‘Come on, just let’s go ahead and pick the guy.’ I said, ‘Joe, we got time.’ He was just getting a little anxious about us taking Yaxel.
“The good thing was, because we were on the clock, nobody could swoop in and take him ahead of us. I was willing to be patient with it.”
The Warriors liked Morez Johnson Jr., the energetic power forward from Michigan who was chosen by the Dallas Mavericks with the ninth overall pick. They really liked Brayden Burries, the combo guard from Arizona chosen by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 10th overall pick.
With those options off the board, Lendeborg was the obvious – and most rational – path for the Warriors to take.
“I never want to draft for need,” Dunleavy said. “Just works out that we really like the guy that has the potential to come in and fit what we need.”
Lendeborg’s resumé is considerably thicker than Golden State’s last three lottery picks. James Wiseman, second overall in 2020, played 69 minutes of college basketball. Jonathan Kuminga, seventh overall in 2021, played 13 games for the G League Ignite. Moody, 14th overall, played 32 games at Arkansas. All three entered as members of the 19-and-under club.
That none has established himself as a consistent NBA starter, much less an All-Star, is why the Warriors are scrambling to construct a roster that can be relevant in the post-Curry years.
Nothing is certain with Lendeborg, but he enters the league with credentials indicating he can offer immediate help now and also be an important member of a contender for years to come. The logic behind the choice is sound.