Warriors welcome first-round pick Yaxel Lendeborg to Dub Nation

The Warriors used the No. 11 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft to bring Yaxel Lendeborg to Golden State. He is a 6-foot-9 forward with championship experience and Big Ten hardware.

Golden State took Lendeborg on June 23 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and listed him as a rookie after the selection. He is 6-foot-9, 241 pounds, born Sept. 30, 2002. The Warriors also moved quickly to market him, with official jerseys and draft merchandise going on sale almost immediately after the pick.

Mike Dunleavy Jr. called Lendeborg the top player on Golden State’s board when the team was on the clock and said his production at that age was historic. He can dribble, pass, shoot and defend, with the potential to guard all five positions.

After transferring from UAB, he helped the Wolverines win a Big Ten championship, reach the Final Four and finish with a national title, the program’s first since 1989. Michigan beat UConn 69-63 on April 6 to win the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball championship. Big Ten postseason honors named him Player of the Year by both coaches and the media, making him the sixth Wolverine to win the award and the first since Nik Stauskas in 2014.

Michigan listed him at 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, while Big Ten postseason honors put him at 14.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. Across his Division I career, he averaged 15.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists while starting 107 of 112 games. During the tournament, he scored 25 points in a second-round win over Saint Louis and 27 against Tennessee in the Elite Eight, then earned Midwest Region Most Outstanding Player honors.

Lendeborg could see himself averaging about five assists a game and working as a secondary creator, with Stephen Curry’s gravity helping him make reads. He called the draft moment surreal and a dream come true.