SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob is “very fired up” to have new draft pick Yaxel Lendeborg on his team.
Speaking at an announcement for the Warriors’ new jersey patch with AI company Iren on Thursday, Lacob beamed with pride while discussing the Michigan forward the Warriors drafted with the No. 11 pick.
“It couldn’t have gone any better for us,” Lacob said. “We got the guy we were looking to get. I think he’s a game changer. Jimmy (Butler) is going to love playing with him. I think this guy is just fantastic. Yaxel Lendeborg is his name. Good day in Warriors history, mark my words.”
Lendeborg, 23, helped Michigan win a national championship in April, and is expected to contribute early to a Warriors roster that is increasingly expected to look a lot like the one that ended last season.
Butler, who is currently rehabbing an ACL tear in his right knee, was also on hand at Thursday’s news conference. The All-Star wing is looking forward to playing with Lendeborg and getting to know the All-American.
Yaxel Lendeborg is one of the best high-leverage role player bets in the 2026 NBA Draft
Sam Vecenie
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Butler also noted something Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy hit on immediately after selecting Lendeborg on Tuesday night: the belief within the organization that the young big man has the type of personality that will fit with the Warriors’ locker room, on top of the talent they expect to see on the floor.
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“I know that guy be speaking his mind,” Butler said. “And I like that. I respect that. I’ve seen him play … I’ve played with some Michigan cats. I think he’s gonna be very good.
“Personality is always good. All personalities are welcome. We need to be loud. We need to have that energy. He plays tough. He is tough.”
While answering a variety of questions about his team’s new jersey patch sponsorship — worth more than $50 million dollars per year, according to Sportico — Lacob also reiterated his expectation that the Warriors will climb back towards the top of the basketball world in the near future. He acknowledged that the season-ending injury to Butler — as well as Moses Moody’s patellar tendon rupture and the lingering knee issue that kept star Stephen Curry out for long stretches — contributed to the Warriors finishing with a 37-45 record last season and failing to qualify for the playoffs.
“You can’t (win) it every year,” Lacob said. “Things happen, unfortunately. Like Jimmy’s injury. We were on our way to gearing up here last year, and that (was) a killer. That’s going to happen every now and then.”
However, Lacob is optimistic that the tough times won’t last for a team that has been defined by championships — and championship expectations —over the last decade.
“Look, culture is very, very important to any organization no matter what the business is, and we clearly have that,” Lacob said. “And we have the resources to do it. We have an incredible group of people that work in this place that are working every single day, and excitedly, to be where we belong, which is on top.”
He added later: “I can’t predict every single year per se, but I can tell you this: Nobody’s going to outwork us. And nobody will — I don’t want to say outspend us, but you know what I mean. We commit the resources to whatever we need to do.”