With the eleventh overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors selected forward Yaxel Lendeborg out of Michigan.

But is that who they really wanted?

According to a new piece on ESPN by Anthony Slater, the Warriors wanted guard Brayden Burries out of Arizona, but he was selected tenth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Slater wrote that Lendeborg and Burries were ranked “neck-and-neck,” but had Burries been available, he would have been the selection, as he had fans all over the organization.

With the Bucks selecting Burries one pick before the Warriors were on the clock, they went with Lendeborg, who would be 24 by the time the season starts.

Had the Warriors selected Burries, how would that have looked on this squad?

While Lendeborg will likely start, especially in the wake of Kristapas Porzingis still dealing with health issues that have plagued him in recent seasons, there is no guarantee that Burries would have gotten the starting gig.

Brandin Podziemski is more or less locked into a starting spot, and unless he was going to be an undersized three, Burries wasn’t going to beat him out for the starting two spot.

Coming off the bench, Burries would’ve provided excellent two-way play and a scoring punch that the team has lacked in recent seasons when Curry has been off the floor. Burries has shown that he can score at all three levels and is a relentless driver.

Long-term, it’s easy to see how he would’ve replaced Podziemski, who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, as the starting shooting guard.

The good news for the Warriors is they still got an incredible player in Lendeborg.

Not only is he a well-rounded player on both ends of the floor, but he also brings an edge that will shine on a team with Draymond Green.

Though he is 24, he was one of the most NBA-ready prospects, and the Warriors needed a player who could contribute right away given their overall roster age and their win-now mentality in the final seasons of Steph Curry.

It was only Summer League, and it’s only preseason, but Yaxel has shown the talent that Warriors fans should come to expect once the season starts. He can run the offense, run the floor, get to the basket, shoot from the outside, and disrupt on defense.

He may not have been the player the Warriors initially wanted, but he’s the player they need.