Yaxel Lendeborg just showed he's exactly what the Warriors needed

All offseason long, everyone has discussed the Golden State Warriors' chances of landing LeBron James in free agency, and how, if they don't get him, this summer would be considered a colossal failure.

However, I've maintained the belief that James is not what the Warriors need. Outside a clean bill of health, what this version of the team needs is a role player who is young, offers size, defense, and a reasonable complimentary offensive skillset.

For as great as he's been in his 40s, James is not the type of player we are perscribing. However, the player they selected in the 2026 NBA Draft might be.

Yaxel Lendeborg is the perfect role player for this team

One of the two players the Warriors selected in this past draft was Yaxel Lendeborg, a reigning national championship who was taken with the 11th overall pick.

Some people were disappointed by Golden State's decision not to trade this pick for a more immediate impacter, especially given the short window that the Warriors are currently working with. However, it seems the team got just what they needed from the Lendeborg selection.

Lendeborg may be "old" for a rookie, but he is still a spring chicken compared to most NBA players (he'll be 24 by the start of the regular season). He is also huge (standing at 6'9 with a 7'3.25 wingspan), projects to be an excellent defender (ranking first in Defensive Bayesian Performance Rating in college basketball last season), and can knock down open threes when they are available to him (37.2% from three in his lone season at Michigan).

The 2026 Vegas Summer League served to only further show the proof of concept. In six summer league games, Lendeborg filled up the box score by averaging 14.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 4 APG, while converting on 35.7% of his nearly five threes per game.

Did you notice that Lendeborg appeared in six games when most teams were only scheduled for four? That's because Lendeborg helped to lead the Warriors all the way to the championship round of the midsummer classic. Not only that, but the Warriors won the whole thing by beating Cameron Boozer (the third overall pick) and the Memphis Grizzlies. Lendeborg's 21-point, 10-rebound performance led to him being named the Championship Game MVP.

Now, just because a player is the best player in the final game of a summer league tournament does not mean that they are a shoo-in to be a great NBA player, especially right out of the gate. For instance, the last three winners have been Kyle Filipowski, Jalen Wilson, and Cam Whitmore -- three players who definetly deserve to be on an NBA roster but are far from star-level talents, or even high-end starters, for that matter.

Still, the Warriors don't need to Lendeborg to be a star to help them unlock the best version of himself. They just need him to do what he showed us he can do during these last couple of weeks: impact winning basketball.

Imagine how balanced and formidable a lineup of Lenderborg, Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler III, Draymond Green, and Kristaps Porziņģis could be. And that's without factoring in the contributions of guys like Brandin Podziemski and Gui Santos.

The bottom line is that the Warriors don't need James to have a good season next year. They just need Lendeborg to keep being who he is: a winner.

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