{"id":132888,"date":"2025-04-06T18:38:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-06T22:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=132888"},"modified":"2025-04-06T19:01:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T23:01:39","slug":"yaxel-lendeborg-finds-new-home-return-to-college-remain-in-nba-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/06\/yaxel-lendeborg-finds-new-home-return-to-college-remain-in-nba-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"2-Time AAC DPOY Finds New Home, Will He Return To College Or Remain In NBA Draft?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former UAB<\/a> star forward Yaxel Lendeborg<\/a> had a busy Saturday. Lendeborg told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony<\/a> that he has committed to Michigan despite already entering the 2025 NBA draft. Lendeborg will maintain his eligibility while going through the draft process.<\/p>\n

“I’m focused on the draft process and making the NBA<\/a> right now,” Lendeborg said per Givony. “I want a guaranteed contract. That’s the biggest thing, make sure I am in a good spot. I would prefer to play college basketball in Ann Arbor than be in and out of the G League on a two-way. I want to find a safe spot.”<\/p>\n

Lendeborg selected Michigan<\/a> over several other major programs. On3’s Joe Tipton<\/a> said that Arkansas<\/a>, Kentucky<\/a>, BYU<\/a>, Auburn<\/a>, Alabama<\/a>, Ole Miss,<\/a> Georgetown, and Memphis were among the programs interested in the two-time AAC Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

2-Time AAC DPOY Finds New College Home & Enters NBA Draft, Projected To Be Selected?<\/h2>\n

Lendeborg showed marked improvement in year two of his major college basketball journey. The 6-9 defensive ace spent three seasons at Western Arizona Community College before transferring to UAB before the 2023-24 campaign. He increased his production and efficiency in nearly every category this year for the Blazers.<\/p>\n

Lendeborg closed the season strong, compiling six straight double-doubles during UAB’s run in the AAC tournament and NIT. The 2025 All AAC Tournament selection totaled 123 points, 95 rebounds, 30 assists, 15 steals, and 11 blocks over this six-game stretch.<\/p>\n

Lendeborg averaged 17.7 points and an American Athletic Conference high of 11.6 rebounds this season. The Pennsauken native also compiled 4.2 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game. He finished with 26 double-doubles while shooting .522\/.357\/.757.<\/p>\n

So, will Lendeborg end up at Michigan or in the NBA this year?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the 80-20 (go is probably pretty accurate right now,\u201d The Birmingham Hammer’s Steve Irvine<\/a> said about whether Lendeborg will go to the NBA or play in Ann Arbor. \u201cObviously, he said it yesterday. But I do think this: Yax is a smart kid, and Yax is a kid that knows he\u2019s kinda still being molded as a player, because he\u2019s played so little over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he realizes that Dusty May<\/a> can help get him better, Irvine added. “That\u2019s the one thing: I was told \u2014 and not by Yax, but by some people \u2014 that the biggest mistake that a lot of people made in this portal recruitment was that they just thought if they threw a money number out at him, that would be what would win.”<\/p>\n

Lendeborg has a NIL value of $2.3 million.<\/p>\n

Where Is Yaxel Lendeborg Projected To Be Selected In the 2025 NBA Draft?<\/h3>\n

Lendeborg is an intriguing prospect who can play both forward spots and center in a small-ball situation. He is still a bit raw and limited offensively.<\/p>\n

Lendeborg is an elite athlete who has good size, standing at 6-9 and weighing 240 pounds. and length. Lendeborg is a three-level scorer who gets most of his points in the paint and because of his high motor, either from second-chance points or transition. He has scored 20+ points over 20 times over his two seasons at UAB.<\/p>\n

A very efficient scorer, Lendeborg can create his own shots and finish through contract. He has a solid 52% rate of getting to the foul line and a decent mid-range game. While he doesn’t post up in a traditional sense, Lendborg is strong enough to walk “crab dribble” his man into the post.<\/p>\n

While Lendeborg does his best work on the glass, compiling a rebounding rate of 20% and two 20-rebound games, he is an outstanding passer. He is willing to pass in transition and half-court. His 22.3% assist percentage is slightly below elite for his position, but he does need to improve his ball handling and decision-making, as his 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio is below average.<\/p>\n

Lendeborg also improved his three-point shooting. He shot a solid 36% from beyond the arc, but that number always equates to lower in the NBA, so by NBA standards, he is likely a 30-34% shooter from distance. More problematic is that only 15% of his attempts came from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

Defensively, Lendeborg projects to be a strong defender at the next level. Lendeborg has the tools to defend at least three positions, possibly making it difficult for guards on switches. But at this point, he is best at being a secondary defender, playing passing lanes and using his exceptional ability to recover to block shots.<\/p>\n

Last Word<\/h3>\n

The first player that comes to mind as a comp to Lendeborg’s game is Kawhi Leonard.<\/a>\u00a0 Therefore, I believe that Lendeborg has the potential to be a mid-to-late first-round pick.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure Lendeborg is quite ready to make the jump to the NBA this season. Right now, due to Lindeborg’s inexperience against top-notch competition and questions surrounding his perimeter shooting prowess, it would probably behoove him to play one season in Ann Arbor. Plus, he won’t get as many easy baskets in the NBA as he has in college.<\/p>\n

Over the last two years, Lendeborg hasn’t been as efficient against top-100 teams, though he still puts up strong overall numbers. However, in seven contests against ranked teams, Lendeborg has struggled even more with his shooting, particularly from the perimeter, and his assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.5-to-1. In addition, fouling has become an issue in top-level competition.<\/p>\n

As a result, Lendeborg is probably a late first-round-to-early second-round draft pick today. On the plus side, Lendeborg will be able to improve draft stock in individual workouts. If things work out, he could get an invitation to the NBA draft combine.<\/p>\n

Two of the six major NBA mock drafts or ratings boards have Lendeborg as a late first-round selection. Bleacher Report<\/a><\/strong> has Him at No. 25, and The Athletic<\/a> has him at No. 28. Meanwhile, NBADraft.Net<\/a> (No. 32) has him early in the second round, while\u00a0 ESPN<\/a> has him at No. 52. Yahoo Sports<\/a> and USA TODAY<\/a> also don’t have Lendeborg as a first-rounder.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo Credit: \u00a9 Chris Jones, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former UAB star forward Yaxel Lendeborg had a busy Saturday. Lendeborg told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony that he has committed to Michigan despite already entering the 2025 NBA draft. Lendeborg will maintain his eligibility while going through the draft process. “I’m focused on the draft process and making the NBA right now,” Lendeborg said per Givony. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":132895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,773,2,62,556],"tags":[49375,3772,866],"class_list":["post-132888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-college-basketball","category-featured","category-nba","category-nba-draft","tag-2025-nba-draft","tag-college-basketball-recruiting","tag-michigan-wolverines"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132888"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132982,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132888\/revisions\/132982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}