Why Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg is key to Steph Curry’s final title run

When Yaxel Lendeborg lays in bed at night imagining his future, there’s so much that excites him. 

He’s going to throw assists to Steph Curry, the greatest shooter of all time. He’ll be in a defensive stance alongside Draymond Green, who has made a Hall of Fame career out of bottling up opposing teams’ stars. 

When asked which scenario most often plays through his mind as he falls asleep, he didn’t hesitate. 

“I’d probably say lockdown defense next to Dray,” Lendeborg told The California Post. “I have a lot to learn. He’s such a great defender, such a versatile defender. That’s something I’ve always wanted to improve on. So being able to learn from him is something I’m very excited to do.”

For the Warriors, Lendeborg is the Swiss Army Knife they need. 

The 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward can play small-ball center, handle the ball and shoot 3s. He’s also a lauded defender who can guard positions 1 through 5. 

The 23-year-old Lendeborg, whom Golden State selected with the No. 11 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, is expected to make an immediate impact for the Warriors, especially with Jimmy Butler (torn right ACL) and Moses Moody (torn left patellar tendon) out for the start of the season. 

As for Lendeborg, he was on pins and needles during draft night, hoping the Warriors would select him.   

“They showed me a lot of love,” Lendeborg told the Post, referring to a private, pre-draft workout he had with the team June 11. “They were pretty much giving me the game plan of how it was going to go. I was super happy the entire time. They made me feel wanted as soon as I stepped in. There was no place I wanted to be other than that.”

Lendeborg is at least 3 years older than all 10 players who were drafted ahead of him. That’s something that has historically given teams pause, considering the overwhelming value placed on youth and untapped potential. 

But for a Warriors team that’s in win-now mode trying to extend the 38-year-old Curry’s championship window, acquiring a player who could plug in immediately was of paramount importance. 

“We got the guy we were looking to get,” Warriors owner Joe Lacob said last month during an announcement for a new jersey patch.

Knows how to win

He led Michigan to an NCAA championship last season, averaging 15.1 points on 52% shooting, 6.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals. He was a first-team All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year. 

For the Warriors, Lendeborg was their biggest offseason acquisition in what has otherwise been a very quiet period for a team that won four championships in eight years from 2015-2022 before missing the playoffs two of the last three seasons. 

But that could change. 

The Warriors are still in the race to acquire LeBron James.

For an incoming rookie, sharing the court with arguably the greatest player of all time would be surreal. 

“That would be great,” Lendeborg told the Post. “Being able to learn from him. He plays the same position as me. We’re pretty much built kind of the same. He’s obviously a lot stronger. Being able to learn how he’s kept his body intact, the workouts he’s done, what he did to increase his game IQ. [That] is something I’m very excited to learn from [him]. Hopefully it all works out.”

Lendeborg has one concern, though. 

“Hopefully he doesn’t take away my minutes, either,” Lendeborg added, flashing a smile. “But I’d be very excited either way.”

No lack of confidence

He raised eyebrows during his post-draft interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio, proclaiming, “I’m excited to start another Warriors dynasty.” 

He wants to make an immediate impact. He believes he’s ready. If summer league is any indication, he’s not wrong. 

In the team’s first two games in Las Vegas, he averaged 17.5 points on 48.1% shooting from the field and 50% from beyond the arc.

But he needs to improve his conditioning, something he quickly realized over the last few weeks. 

Luckily for him, he can study Curry, whose intense offseason workouts became NBA lore as he famously tortured defenders by never stopping moving.

“He’s the most conditioned player in NBA history,” Lendeborg told the Post. “Just learn those habits.”

Lendeborg has already had some fun back-and-forths with his new teammates. 

He told reporters on draft night that he “used to hate Steph Curry” because he was “a big Kyrie [Irving] guy.” Curry responded in an Instagram comment, writing,  “Let’s go! Welcome to the Bay! I’m going to work hard to be your new favorite player.”

Meanwhile, Green carved out time on his podcast to address Lendeborg’s claim that he hadn’t texted the rookie back. “You f–king liar,” Green said on “The Draymond Green Show,” adding that he replied “the next minute.”

“We’re not really a team very big on rookie hazing,” Green said. “… But we can pick that back up.”

Some regrets

“I’m kinda nervous thinking about it,” Lendeborg told the Post. “But I hope he takes it easy on me and gives me a nice warm welcome that doesn’t involve any hazing.”

Despite stirring the pot a bit, this much is for sure: Lendeborg is deeply grateful he’s going to share the court with Curry and Green, who turned the Warriors into the league’s modern-day dynasty. No team has won back-to-back titles for eight years since the Warriors won championships in 2017 and 2018.

“I’m very excited to play [with] those guys,” Lendeborg told the Post. “They’re all historically good players. They’re all going to be in the Hall of Fame. They’ve won at the highest level multiple times. There’s so much to learn and so much to be.”

That’s why he was so worried on draft night. 

The Warriors had their highest pick in five years. Several other players were rumored to be on their radar, including Brayden Burries, who was selected one spot ahead of Lendeborg at No. 10, as well as Aday Mara, whose name was called immediately after his at No. 12. 

“I was a little nervous the entire time because you obviously don’t know where you’re going, and it didn’t seem like I was going to have the opportunity to play there,” Lendeborg told the Post.  “But God brought me here, and I’m super happy to be here.”

After NBA Commissioner Adam Silver revealed Lendeborg was heading to Golden State, his joy was palpable.

Emotions poured out of him as he hugged his mother, Yissel Raposo, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 appendix cancer when he played for the Wolverines last season.  

She used to call him every draft night. She wanted to make sure he was watching. She needed him to believe he could one day be on that stage.

Now she was wiping his tears as she choked back her own.

His dream had come true, which meant hers had, too.

“There’s nothing better than being able to give this gift to my mom,” he said. 

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