The 24-year-old No. 11 pick has stepped up early while Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis and Moses Moody have been out.
Yaxel Lendeborg spent the draft process getting asked the same question over and over: why is a 24-year-old rookie worth a lottery pick. Five games into his NBA career, the Warriors have their answer.
With Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis and Moses Moody all sidelined, Golden State needed somebody to fill gaps immediately, and Lendeborg has done exactly that. His path here was unusual, an extensive college career that included an NCAA championship and All-American honors before he ever played an NBA minute, which is why his age became such a talking point throughout the draft cycle.
Steve Kerr put the absurdity of that scrutiny plainly, joking that Lendeborg should have left college unprepared four years ago if he wanted to avoid questions about his timeline, because then he would have gone second overall instead. The point lands: polish and readiness got penalized on draft night, and now the Warriors are cashing in on exactly that polish while their roster deals with injuries.
For a team trying to keep things together late in Stephen Curry's era, a rookie who can contribute from day one without needing a development runway is not a small thing. Lendeborg's age was framed as a flaw. Early returns suggest it was the opposite.