{"id":2909,"date":"2026-06-24T06:07:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T06:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2909"},"modified":"2026-06-24T06:07:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T06:07:03","slug":"kurtenbach-boris-diaw-2-0-yaxel-lendeborg-is-the-cure-for-the-warriors-identity-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2909","title":{"rendered":"Kurtenbach: Boris Diaw 2.0? Yaxel Lendeborg is the cure for the Warriors\u2019 identity crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>If you ever really want to see Steve Kerr light up, you only need two words: Boris Diaw.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2907\">Warriors GM Dunleavy explains animated interaction with Joe Lacob before drafting Lendeborg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The versatility, the intelligence, the playmaking and that ineffable ability to win \u2014 the Frenchman was a basketball romantic\u2019s dream.<\/p>\n<p>Man, what a player Diaw was.<\/p>\n<p>And now, the Warriors have their own modern version.<\/p>\n<p>With the 11th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, Golden State did the obvious thing, the safe thing, the right thing, and took Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg.<\/p>\n<p>And in that move \u2014 the move they had to make \u2014 a definitive statement from the previously purgatorial Dubs:<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s all about the here and now.<\/p>\n<p>There was not a single prospect available, or even theoretically available, who would have positively affected winning in the immediate future more than Lendeborg. Who cares that he\u2019s turning 24 in a few months? He\u2019s the ultimate fix-it tool for a franchise that has spent too long looking at the horizon instead of the floor right in front of them.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>What is it he cannot do? We\u2019re playing basketball, not buying stocks here.<\/p>\n<p>To start, Lendeborg is an exceptional passer who can run point from the forward position. A man for a Warriors fan\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n<p>Standing 6-foot-9 with a monstrous 7-3 wingspan, he spent last season breaking college basketball by altering every single possession he played.<\/p>\n<p>He averaged 15 points, nearly 7 rebounds, and 3 assists while anchoring a national championship run.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Need rim protection? He blocks a shot and a half a game and adds just as many steals.<\/p>\n<p>Shooting? He hit 37 percent from beyond the arc on real volume.<\/p>\n<p>Rebounding? He single-handedly dragged down 12 boards against Alabama in the NCAA tournament, a game where he casually threw in 23 points and seven assists just to show off.<\/p>\n<p>His footwork? Blueprint perfect. He\u2019s the kind of bouncy, switchable player that defines today\u2019s NBA.<\/p>\n<p>The Warriors don\u2019t need a teenager who needs a map to find the weight room \u2014 some long-term project who turns tantalization into annoyance \u2014 just add time.<\/p>\n<p>No, they needed a player.<\/p>\n<p>They grabbed the ultimate player.<\/p>\n<p>The man was as good as Larry Bird in the statistical ledger, becoming one of only two players in NCAA history to record 600 points, 400 rebounds and 150 assists in a single season. The other guy went to Indiana State and turned out okay.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2905\">SF Giants\u2019 Luis Arraez exits early after fouling ball off right foot<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s that stuff that doesn\u2019t show up in the stat sheet that\u2019s most impressive: Feel.<\/p>\n<p>If the offense stalls, he hits a corner 3; if the defense rots, he covers three positions on a single switch.<\/p>\n<p>Is he the centerpiece of a post-Stephen Curry era for the Warriors? Probably not.<\/p>\n<p>But now or later, he will help this team win basketball games that actually matter.<\/p>\n<p>In the short term, he is exactly the shot of espresso the Dubs need. He is a perfect fit for Kerr\u2019s motion offense \u2014 hoops-savvy personified.<\/p>\n<p>He is a much-needed, high-IQ power wing who can absorb heavy minutes while Jimmy Butler recovers from his knee injury. An heir apparent to Draymond Green. A backup five, a starting wing, a point guard in a big man\u2019s body.<\/p>\n<p>Do-it-all, and do it all well.<\/p>\n<p>What more could you ask for?<\/p>\n<p>Taking Lendeborg isn\u2019t just a win for the depth chart; it\u2019s a surrender to sanity. It\u2019s general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. looking at the final, precious chapters of the Curry era and deciding to stop wasting pages.<\/p>\n<p>No more waiting for the light bulb to turn on. No more squinting at raw tape and praying for a basketball IQ transplant.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the Warriors just injected a heavy dose of immediate reality into Chase Center. In Lendeborg, they get the ultimate plug-and-play fixer\u2014a guy who will walk into training camp, look Green in the eye, and speak the exact same basketball language. He won\u2019t need instructions on how to find the open man, and he won\u2019t need a year in Santa Cruz to figure out how to set a screen in Kerr\u2019s blender.<\/p>\n<p>The post-Steph future is a problem for tomorrow. Tuesday, the Warriors got a hell of a lot smarter, a hell of a lot tougher, and infinitely better.<\/p>\n<p>At some point during this process, Kerr was watching tape of a 6-9 forward making a backdoor pass, and thinking of Boris Diaw.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2903\">SF Giants down A\u2019s 3-1 as Robbie Ray yields two hits in eight innings<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I guarantee it brought a smile.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Golden State Warriors: The Dubs&#8217; pick of Yaxel Lendeborg makes too much sense to fail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kurtenbach: Boris Diaw 2.0? 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