Warriors' Yaxel Lendeborg eyes summer league debut: ‘He's an extreme talent'

In the nine days after the Golden State Warriors drafted him, Yaxel Lendeborg enjoyed playful social-media banter with Stephen Curry, landed the locker next to Curry's, became enmeshed in a curious back-and-forth with Draymond Green, fielded feverish texts from friends about potentially playing alongside LeBron James and signed his first NBA contract.

Now he'll actually play basketball.

Lendeborg's debut in a Warriors uniform offers a layer of intrigue to Friday night's California Classic summer-league doubleheader at Chase Center. Golden State meets the Los Angeles Lakers at 7:30 p.m., after Miami and San Antonio play at 5 p.m.

The Warriors' summer roster includes second-year guards Will Richard and LJ Cryer, second-round draft choice Lajae Jones and undrafted free agents such as Graham Ike (Gonzaga). But the headliner is Lendeborg, the No. 11 overall pick in last week's draft.

He arrives with sparkling credentials, after he led Michigan to the national championship and was named Big Ten player of the year. More important for the Warriors, he seems to fill a pressing need as a sizable (6-foot-9, 230 pounds), two-way wing player who can mix it up near the basket and also prosper on the perimeter.

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"He's an extreme talent," Cryer said after one practice this week. "He's bigger than what I thought after seeing him in person. He's huge. He can shoot the ball really well, he's coming in mature (at 23) and he's a grown man. I think he'll be able to impact us right away."

Cryer described one play on which Lendeborg was posting up and a defender tried to run around him and steal the ball. Lendeborg used his body to seal the player and keep him away.

"Yaxel plays big," Cryer said. "It's one thing to be big, and it's another thing to play big."

Malevy Leons marveled about Lendeborg's versatility. He stationed himself on the low post on one play in practice, and then on the next possession he defended the opposing team's point guard - an uncommon combination.

There's a huge distinction, of course, between impressing your teammates in a summer-league practice and making an impact in regular-season games. The Warriors chose Lendeborg because they think he can help right away as they try to strengthen the group around Curry.

Lendeborg will probably hit bumps in the road as he makes the transition to the NBA. He recalled his move last year from Alabama-Birmingham to Michigan, where teammate Morez Johnson Jr. routinely swatted Lendeborg's shots into the third row during the early weeks of practice.

He understands similar welcome-to-the-NBA moments could start as soon as Friday.

"I know the first game, if I have a bad game, everybody's going to overreact - like, ‘Oh, he sucks, what happened, why did he get drafted?'" Lendeborg said. "I know why I'm here and I know I deserve to be here.

"One bad game isn't going to define who I am as a person, and I just gotta go out there and keep thriving and getting better. I don't expect my first game to be a good one, I'll say that now. I'll have to adjust, figure out my reads and try to slow the game down."

Lendeborg has showed his engaging personality during media sessions since draft night on June 23. He talked about once being a Kyrie Irving fan, and thus hating Curry (smiling at the time) when the Warriors and Cavaliers annually met in the NBA Finals.

Curry responded to Lendeborg on Instagram, welcoming him to the Bay Area and joking, "I'm going to work hard to be your new favorite player."

The Warriors soon placed Lendeborg's locker at Chase Center next to Curry's. Lendeborg laughed about that twist, then later quipped about hoping Curry's shooting skills rub off on him.

Lendeborg's relationship with Green merits scrutiny for a different reason. Green took exception to Lendeborg saying Green hadn't immediately responded to text messages after the draft, calling him a "f-ing liar." He didn't sound angry, but he also wasn't joking.

Even so, Lendeborg earnestly spoke of his desire to learn from veterans such as Curry, Green and Al Horford. And Lendeborg repeatedly has praised the way Green plays - focusing on defense and passing more than scoring - and suggested he's modeled his game accordingly.

One notable difference: Lendeborg is three inches taller than Green, and size matters in basketball.

"I always try to find three different reads I can make, and being taller than other people makes it a lot easier to get those passes over them," he said. "And then just being able to finish over guys. I try to play more like a wing or a guard, so there's usually somebody at my position who's smaller and it's way easier for me to score on them."

Lendeborg seems to understand the summer-league dynamic, with Curry and Green and other Warriors veterans not involved. The spotlight will shine on No. 1, the charismatic forward and highest Golden State draft choice since Jonathan Kuminga in 2021.

He's not shying away from the attention. Not at all.

"I'll try to be a leader, learn to be one," Lendeborg said of his ambitions in summer league play. "I was picked the highest here, so I have to act like it - but not acting like I'm a priority or something. There's going to be a lot of pressure on me, a lot of eyes, so I have to go out there and play my role."

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