Yaxel Lendeborg has already made himself impossible to ignore, and now Friday’s Warriors-Grizzlies game could give this thing a new layer.
Lendeborg is coming off a Wednesday where he said he lost all respect for Luka Doncic, and he’ll get his next crack at the Lakers in a week. But Doncic may not be the only player with a little extra edge when it comes to Lendeborg.
No. 3 overall pick Cameron Boozer might have a score to settle, too.
That goes back to what Lendeborg said about Boozer and the Grizzlies during summer league. He pointed to Michigan’s loss to Duke in last year’s regular season while talking about Boozer, then made it clear he still had that game on his mind.
"I think about [revenge] every time I play [Boozer]," Lendeborg said in July. "Every game we play, them refs be saving him. … It is a competitive nature [with] everybody that gets drafted ahead of me."
Later, after the Warriors beat the Grizzlies in the Las Vegas Summer League Championship Game, Lendeborg turned up the heat again.
"Their butts got tight," Lendeborg said. "They puckered up.
Some of us are built for the moment and some aren't. ... Our spirit, our will, our desire to not lose is pretty much what helped us out."
That’s the kind of stuff that tends to linger. You can safely assume the Grizzlies have noticed, and if there’s a chance to answer back, they’d love to take it.
The matchup itself already had plenty going for it. Boozer and Lendeborg finished first and second in BPM last season, and they come at the game with a similar size-and-skill profile.
Boozer was always going to be selected ahead of Lendeborg - he’s 19, while Lendeborg is 24 - and Boozer’s age gives him the bigger runway for growth. Still, right now, it’s fair to look at them as close to even.
That’s why I predicted they’d finish 1-2 in Rookie of the Year voting. In their preseason games, the numbers backed up the idea that both guys were ready to matter.
Neither player exploded in his first regular-season game, but neither one was a ghost, either. Lendeborg posted 12 points, three rebounds and two assists. Boozer finished with seven points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Lendeborg has already shown he’s willing to say the kind of things plenty of NBA players would keep to themselves. Whether he wants a real rivalry with Boozer is another question. But it may be coming regardless, and the quickest way for it to catch fire is for Boozer to answer.
Will Boozer react if he scores on Lendeborg? Will he come with a little more edge afterward?
He usually carries himself like a straight professional, which makes me think he’ll keep his cards close even if he badly wants this one. Friday should tell us plenty about how the Grizzlies’ starting power forward wants to handle it.
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Golden State has been monitoring the big-man landscape with Kristaps Porzingis trade talks in the mix, but the ripple effects do not stop there. Myles Turner also played in that Bucks-Wizards matchup, and Milwaukee is not interested in moving him, which only narrows the list of available help for a team trying to find size without overpaying for it. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Rookie Turns Lakers Debut Into A Much Bigger Talking Point
The Warriors season opener in Los Angeles ended with a loss, but rookie Yaxel Lendeborg helped keep the night in the conversation after his NBA debut. In 29 minutes, he put up 12 points, three rebounds and two assists, a solid first look for a newcomer trying to carve out a role on a team that already knows every early-season detail will be scrutinized.
Lendeborgs postgame remarks, though, quickly turned his debut into something bigger than a box score. He took aim at the NBAs culture of flopping and foul baiting, and he specifically singled out Lakers star Luka Doncic, giving an opening-night loss a dose of controversy that is likely to follow the Warriors well beyond one game. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Linked To A Risky All-In Move For Steph's Window
A hypothetical swap making the rounds would push the Warriors into familiar territory: chasing another high-upside talent to keep Stephen Currys championship window open. The framework is simple on paper, sending Draymond Green, Kristaps Porzingis and a protected first-round pick to New Orleans in exchange for Zion Williamson, with the idea being that Golden State would add a downhill scorer who can change the geometry of the floor when Curry is drawing attention.
Of course, the appeal comes with the same kind of uncertainty that has followed Williamson for much of his career, and Porzingis brings his own medical questions into the equation as well. For the Pelicans, the deal would be about future flexibility and the chance to reshape the roster around younger pieces, while Golden State would be betting that one bold move can extend its relevance without paying too steep a price in the years ahead. [Read more 🡒]