Yaxel Lendeborg has already forced the Warriors to think bigger about what he can become.
Through five games, the rookie has gone from emergency help to real offensive presence for Golden State, stepping into the void left by Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody and looking more like a second option than a stopgap. He’s averaging 22.6 points on 47.5% shooting from the field, production the Warriors badly need with Kristaps Porzingis out indefinitely.
What’s turned heads, though, is not just the scoring. Lendeborg has also shown he can handle the ball in the halfcourt when Stephen Curry sits, a development Golden State has been chasing since before the Jimmy Butler trade. For a rookie to surface as a potential answer that quickly is a jolt for a team still sorting out its rotation.
That said, the rough edges are still there. Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwoles was a reminder that this is still early-stage stuff, with Lendeborg coughing up seven turnovers.
It’s the kind of night that shows how far he still has to go as a creator. But it also doesn’t erase how fast he’s learning.
The Warriors are giving him real responsibility, and he’s responding by expanding his game in chunks. In Golden State’s win over Minnesota, he attacked downhill and converted nine of his 15 shots from inside the arc. He rebounded well against a physical front line, and his work as an off-ball defender has taken noticeable steps forward after Steve Kerr pointed to that area for improvement after the first couple of games.
The biggest issue remains the turnover count. Kerr stressed that all offseason, and Minnesota’s pressure clearly sped Lendeborg up when he was asked to initiate more offense. He finished with seven of Golden State’s 17 turnovers and only one assist.
Even so, this was only his fifth NBA game. He’s already had three outings with five or more assists, which is enough to show the playmaking is real even if it’s uneven right now. As the season goes on and the mistakes get trimmed down, he should become a steadier option with Curry off the floor.
That matters because the Warriors need someone who can hold that job now, not later. Butler filled that role when healthy, but Golden State can’t count on him to jump right back into his old workload whenever he returns around mid-season. He’ll need time to get back up to speed and will likely be limited in minutes and in offensive responsibility at first.
That leaves roughly 40 games for Lendeborg to keep growing into the kind of playmaker the Warriors can trust. Based on what he’s shown so far, they may not have to wait nearly that long.
In Other News...
Mavericks Just Got Linked To A Trade Idea Fans Will Debate
The Warriors search for help in the middle has been a constant subplot, and one speculative path that has surfaced would send Daniel Gafford from Dallas to the Bay in a package built around Moses Moody, Gui Santos and a 2028 first-round pick. It is the kind of idea that immediately invites debate because it speaks to two things Golden State has been chasing for a while: more size up front and a clearer answer at center without emptying the cupboard too aggressively.
From the Mavericks side, the appeal would come down to what Moody can become when healthy and available, since his injury status is part of the conversation, along with the kind of perimeter profile he brings. For the Warriors, the question is whether giving up a young wing, a developmental piece and a future first is worth the chance to solve a glaring roster need, especially with the deal still only living in the speculative stage. [Read more 🡒]
Jonathan Kuminga Is Reviving An Uncomfortable Warriors Debate
Jonathan Kumingas first season away from Golden State has done more than change his scenery. It has also sharpened the case for what kind of player he can be when the environment around him is built to highlight his strengths. Since moving on to the Hawks and then the Timberwolves, his offensive production has stayed fairly steady, but the defensive numbers around him have trended upward, and the broader picture has become harder for the Warriors to ignore.
Minnesota has given Kuminga a much different support system, one that includes strong rim protection and elite point-of-attack defense, and that context matters when evaluating his growth. It also feeds back into an old question Golden State never fully settled: whether Kuminga is best used as a wing, a forward, or in some role that asks less of him defensively and lets his athletic tools play up. The answer may not be simple, but his new stops have made the debate look a lot less theoretical. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Suddenly Face A Serious Kristaps Porzingis Contract Question
Kristaps Porzingis has yet to play for the Warriors this season because of a private health issue tied to an upper respiratory viral illness, and the teams latest roster paperwork has made the situation feel a lot more significant. His official designation changed from general illness to not with team, a shift that brings more than just medical concern into the picture and raises a fresh layer of uncertainty around one of the rosters most unusual absences.
For Golden State, the key issue now is less about when Porzingis might return and more about what the team can do if the situation keeps dragging on. The status change opens the door to a possible contract question if he is eventually viewed as unwilling to render services, but actually voiding the deal would be anything but simple. Unless Porzingis were to retire and give back the money, the process would be tangled, and the Warriors may be staring at a problem with no easy resolution. [Read more 🡒]