{"id":2011507,"date":"2026-06-25T21:09:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T18:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2011507"},"modified":"2026-06-25T21:09:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T18:09:58","slug":"warriors-owner-joe-lacob-very-fired-up-to-draft-michigans-yaxel-lendeborg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2011507","title":{"rendered":"Warriors owner Joe Lacob \u2018very fired up\u2019 to draft Michigan\u2019s Yaxel Lendeborg"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob is \u201cvery fired up\u201d to have new draft pick Yaxel Lendeborg on his team.<\/p>\n

Speaking at an announcement for the Warriors\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt couldn\u2019t have gone any better for us,\u201d Lacob said. \u201cWe got the guy we were looking to get. I think he\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Butler, who is currently rehabbing an ACL tear in his right knee, was also on hand at Thursday\u2019s news conference. The All-Star wing is looking forward to playing with Lendeborg and getting to know the All-American.<\/p>\n

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Yaxel Lendeborg is one of the best high-leverage role player bets in the 2026 NBA Draft<\/div>\n
Sam Vecenie<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”@id”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/RREh9C77jZQjKzZ\/”,”url”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/RREh9C77jZQjKzZ\/”,”name”:”Yaxel Lendeborg is one of the best high-leverage role player bets in the 2026 NBA Draft”,”description”:”Ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft, Sam Vecenie breaks down what makes Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg stand out as a draft prospect.”,”uploadDate”:”2026-06-10T18:53:03.406Z”,”duration”:”PT1M50S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/cdn-media.theathletic.com\/video-stream\/auto-thumbnail\/RREh9C77jZQjKzZ\/P8Nsdv4CrRk6.0000000.jpg”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/video.nyt.com\/athletic\/streams\/RREh9C77jZQjKzZ\/P8Nsdv4CrRk6\/P8Nsdv4CrRk6.m3u8″,”transcript”:”Michigan’s Yaxel Lindeborg led the Wolverines to a national title this year with well-rounded play at 23 years old. A consensus first-team All-American, Linenborg’s two-way contributions have teams really, really excited. Here’s why Lindenborg is one of the best high leverage role-player bets in the 2026 NBA draft class. With a journey to this level unlike any other, Lindenborg only played 11 games of high school basketball before heading to junior college, then transferred to UAB. And eventually got to Michigan. But this isn’t your normal 23-year-old draft prospect. Lindeborg is massive at nearly 6’9 without shoes, possessing a 7-foot3 wingspan and a 9-foot standing reach as a wing. He defends on the perimeter and on the interior. He knocks down shots from distance and is an elite transition player who attacks the glass and creates opportunities both for himself and teammates. Here’s why it’s easy to imagine Lindeborg fitting in the NBA. Linenborg is a Threat from behind the three-point line, having drilled 37% from 3 this season. The ball comes out of his hand clean off the catch with good rotation. If you give him room, he’s gonna make it. That 3-point shooting opens up the floor for Lindenborg with how he’s able to attack off the bounce. Watch how he’s able to attack the top foot here as he sees Xavier Edmonds get his back turned too far and drive to the rim, bumping Edmonds and finishing through contact to the nice floater. Then Lindenborg will just make winning plays. Pretty regularly. This one, he crashes in from the perimeter when he feels no one is gonna get a body on him. He just goes, catches in the air and finishes all in one motion. The closest point of comparison I could come up with for something like this was Aaron Gordon, a player who’s probably a little bit overmatched as the top two option in the NBA but can be one of the three best players on a great team due to how he impacts the game on both ends of the court. That’s really kind of what we’re looking for in terms of upside with Yaxel Linderborg.”,”ineligibleRegion”:[“BI”,”BY”,”CD”,”CF”,”CU”,”IQ”,”IR”,”KP”,”LB”,”LY”,”ML”,”NI”,”RU”,”SD”,”SO”,”SS”,”SY”,”UA”,”VE”,”YE”,”ZW”],”publisher”:{“@type”:”NewsMediaOrganization”,”@id”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/#publisher”,”name”:”The Athletic”,”url”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/”,”foundingDate”:”2016-01-25″,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”@id”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”url”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”creditText”:”The Athletic”,”height”:”60″,”width”:”435″},”publishingPrinciples”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/edit-guidelines\/”,”sameAs”:”https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Athletic”},”author”:[{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Sam Vecenie”}]}<\/p>\n
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