Yaxel Lendeborg has been a frequent mock target for the Charlotte Hornets, particularly if he falls past the Thunder at the 12th overall pick. The Michigan standout is coming off a national championship winning season that also saw him win Big Ten Player of the Year. He’s a versatile forward that fits what’s arguably the Hornets’ biggest need, but there are some red flags the team needs to be wary of.
Measurements
Height: 6’8.75″
Wingpsan: 7’3.25″
Standing reach: 9’0.5″
Weight: 241.4 pounds
Standing vertical: 25″
Max vertical: 32.0″
Strengths
Defense, offensive versatility
Lendeborg’s main appeal is his jack-of-all trades skill set. That’s extra prominent on the defensive end. He’s got ideal size for a 4, but he’s long and strong enough to guard up and mobile enough to guard down. He’s a switchable defender and can slide into just about any role that’s required of him. He can chase smaller players on the perimeter or body up bruisers inside. He posted good steal and block rates without fouling much and was a key component of Michigan’s dominant defense. He didn’t rebound much at Michigan, but that was probably partly because of the cast around him. He was a double digit rebounder per game in his two years at UAB prior to transferring to Michigan.
Yaxel doesn’t have a super elite skill on offense but has a good feel of what to do and doesn’t have any glaring weakness. It’s very much a lot of pretty good but nothing bad and nothing great. The best part is probably his passing. He’s a good connective passer and makes quick reads as a secondary decision maker. He posted 3.9 assists per 36 minutes, a very strong number for a forward in college. He won’t be a go-to guy, but he can keep an offense functional and slide in between more dynamic players and accentuate their talents. He’s an improved shooter but was markedly better against weaker competition in his senior year.
Question Marks
Age, lack of defined NBA skill, possible maturity concerns
At the college level, it’s hard to poke too many holes in Lendeborg’s game. There are some minor quibbles–the shooting consistency isn’t ideal, his finishing in traffic can be a little goofy, and he’s not the most twitchy athlete. The primary concern is where he’s at his development arc and what kind of player he is. He’ll be 24 years old before he steps foot on an NBA floor for a game that counts, which is almost unprecedented for a possible lottery pick in recent times. Skills aside, the hit rate and return on investment on older players picked high in the draft is very, very poor. Buddy Hield and Cameron Johnson are the examples of the upper ceiling of players draft at that age, while Denzel Valentine and Chris Duarte show that the floor of those older prospects may be lower than people give them credit for.
His advanced age paired with his lack of definitive NBA skill is a concern. It’s very useful to have a plus defender who has the versatility to play a number of roles. But being able to do that as one of the oldest players in college basketball is a lot different than doing it in the NBA.
Lendeborg has taken a unique path to the NBA. He got a late start playing competitive basketball because he couldn’t get good enough grades to stay on the basketball team. Instead, he apparently would spend double digit hours per day playing video games. He eventually got it together enough to get to where he is, but there are still some lingering questions. He has had some weird moments in press conferences, snickering with teammates while reporters are asking questions, and giving some brash answers. Sam Vecenie reported that some scouts have concerns about his maturity and practice habits. There aren’t any real specifics out there, but there’s some smoke.
Overview
I’m personally significantly lower on Lendeborg than the consensus. I haven’t fully fleshed out my personal preferences, but I probably wouldn’t consider him before sometime in the mid to late 20s. A lot of his appeal is in his role player qualities, but if I’m drafting a guy that’s going to be a 24 year old rookie, I’d like to see some more star quality at the college level. I’m less impressed with a guy that is super versatile when he’s a grown man playing against a lot of kids. I want to see him dominate or at least show some definitive skill that will translate. He’s not a great shooter and he’s not a great creator, so I don’t know where he stands out on offense. While he was an elite defender in college, he’s not a great athlete, so I’m not convinced that’s going to translate to the NBA. While different players, I’m reminded of how much hype Obi Toppin got coming out as a 22 year old rookie because of how dominant he was at Dayton. He flamed out with the Knicks and has leveled off as a rotational bench piece with the Pacers. And he was a guy that came in with elite athleticism to build his game off. Yaxel is a year older and doesn’t have that elite talent.
Betting on Yaxel in or slightly after the lottery is betting on him being an exception, and betting on exceptions isn’t a great way to build a basketball team. It’s even more concerning when the senior citizen of the class still somehow has some questions about his maturity. There are a lot of red flags to turn me off from a prospect that doesn’t have much to more to sell other than “he’s not bad at anything.” If I’m going to invest significant draft capital into an old rookie, I want them to have at least one skill I’m confident will translate, and I want them to be a leader of men among their college team. I don’t see either of those here. Instead, I’ll take my chances on players that have more defined strengths that also have upside to grow into.
