A look at potential New Orleans Pelicans draft pick, Michigan Wolverines forward Yaxel Lendeborg.
The 2026 NBA draft is quickly approaching and, to no one's surprise, it appears that the New Orleans Pelicans don't want to wait for pick No. 58 and could be maneuvering to get back into the lottery.
Troy Weaver is a talent evaluator first, so it's no surprise that he would have fallen in love with a player in this quality draft class. It's the same reason that they don't have a pick this year, because they were infatuated with Derik Queen last year.
Continuing the series of prospect profiles and who the Pelicans could trade up for, it's time to look at Michigan Wolverines forward Yaxel Lendeborg. With New Orleans seemingly doing a balancing act between two timelines, Lendeborg might make perfect sense.
The Wolverines star should come into the NBA with a higher baseline than most of his peers. He played 190 collegiate games between JUCO and his three years in Division I.
His age, he will be 24 as a rookie, might scare some, but it won't scare the Pelicans. That puts him right in between the ages of both Zion Williamson and Derik Queen. Lendeborg will be able to contribute to winning early in the NBA, but he's also young enough to play with the even younger guys for a long time.
Lendeborg was the anchor of this year's championship Michigan team. His personal numbers dipped a little bit with more mouths to feed around him, but he was still a unanimous All-American.
He averaged 15.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game on 51.7/36.4/79.2 shooting splits throughout his NCAA career. He would be a versatile four to add to the front court. As a bonus, he also projects out to be a pretty good defender at the next level.
Lendeborg coming in at under 6-foot-9 at the NBA combine hurts, but he still has the size and massive wingspan that make him exciting. He should be able to guard the five, even if he's a little bit undersized for it.
There are far worse options that New Orleans could end up with. Say they go with a younger player like Nate Ament, and then he is a massive bust, then the organization is out even more assets and further from winning. Lendeborg is a much lower-risk option while also having the tools of a perfect modern front court player.
