The Golden State Warriors’ No. 11 pick came down to more than one name, and ESPN’s Anthony Slater says the player they really wanted was not Yaxel Lendeborg.
Golden State did end up taking Lendeborg, the NCAA national champion forward who helped lead Michigan to the title, and the organization clearly believes he can help right away. Slater wrote that the Warriors viewed him as “an NBA-ready plug-and-play frontcourt rotation option for a team that desperately needs immediate production,” and that thinking helped push them toward the rookie.
Lendeborg has already found himself in a bigger role than he expected, and he admitted the situation caught him off guard.
“Well, it’s very shocking to hear it now. But I mean, I get the point.
The two other guys are hurt. Jimmy was one of the main scorers on this team.
So, going to have to try to fill in his role until he gets back. And I’ve been in positions where I’ve had to score the ball a lot, I guess, or an extra amount that I would like.
I feel like I’ll be able to step into that role for sure. Just got to continue to work at it, get the confidence to do that.
But I mean, I feel like everything’s going to be trending up the right way,” Lendeborg said.
Still, Thursday brought a different layer to the story. Slater reported that on the Warriors’ final draft board in June, Lendeborg and Arizona guard Brayden Burries were rated nearly side by side. If Burries had still been available at No. 11, team sources said Golden State would have taken the 20-year-old combo guard because of his upside.
“On their final draft board in June, the Warriors -- who owned the No. 11 pick -- had Lendeborg and Arizona guard Brayden Burries ranked neck-and-neck, behind the consensus group of prospects up top. If Burries was there, team sources have indicated they would've drafted the 20-year-old combo guard for his upside. He had fans all over the organization,” Slater wrote.
Burries is a guard, while Lendeborg is a forward, so the choice would have pointed the Warriors in a different direction. Instead, they landed on Lendeborg, and even with the reported alternative on the board, the rookie is already making an impression in Golden State.
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