Golden State Warriors select Yaxel Lendenborg with the 11th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft

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Wednesday, June 24, 2026 3:50AM
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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The Golden State Warriors welcome University of Michigan's Yaxel Lendenborg to the Bay Area after drafting him in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft.

Yaxel Lendeborg arrives for the first round of the NBA basketball draft Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York.
Yaxel Lendeborg arrives for the first round of the NBA basketball draft Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York.
AP Photo/Adam Hunger

The Warriors sent him a warm getting on X on Tuesday, writing "From Michigan to Dub Nation! Let's get to work, Yaxel Lendeborg."

Lendenborg comes from the University of Michigan.

According to the school's basketball team, "Lendeborg made an immediate impact in his lone season at Michigan after transferring from UAB, helping lead the Wolverines to a Big Ten championship, Final Four appearance and NCAA national title. He averaged a team-high 15.1 points to go along with 6.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, earning Big Ten Player of the Year honors and becoming Michigan's first recipient since Nik Stauskas in 2014."

The school added," Over his Division I career, Lendeborg played in 112 games (107 starts), averaging 15.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Before arriving in Ann Arbor, he became just the second Division I player to record at least 600 points, 400 rebounds and 150 assists in a season, joining Larry Bird. Across his collegiate stops at Arizona Western, UAB and Michigan, Lendeborg amassed more than 3,000 career points and 1,700 rebounds."

Lendenborg's Michigan teammates were also selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. The school said Morez Johnson Jr. will be joining the Dallas Mavericks and Aday Mara will be joining the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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