There aren't many knocks on Michigan basketball superstar Yaxel Lendeborg as he preps for the 2027 NBA draft. The biggest one might be his age.
NBA teams prefer younger talent at the top of the draft. Every single player projected to go in the top five right now played just one season of college basketball.
It makes sense. If a 19-year old prospect shows all the tools, and has already produced at a high level, it's fair to wonder what they will look like in 3-4 seasons after an NBA rookie deal.
Then than player would be coming into his own at 23-24, whereas, some NBA teams may scoff at the idea of using a lottery, or even a top-10 pick on a player that's already 23.
Yaxel, the Big Ten Player of the Year, will turn 24 in September. That's probably the No. 1 thing limiting his NBA draft stock right now, and based on what we know about Lendeborg, that's just silly.
The Michigan basketball standout is far from the normal 23-year old. He picked up the game in high school, went to a JUCO for two years, before playing at UAB, then at Michigan.
This past season, Lendeborg finally started to show his immense ceiling. He went from being a center for UAB to playing the three for Michigan. He can effectively guard 1-5, can shoot the three, is a playmaker, an elite defender, rebounder, and his offensive game is still growing.
NBA teams aren't high enough on Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg
The NBA passes on 23/24-year-olds because it sees limited upside. With Yaxel, that's completely missing the point.
Dusty May could see what Yaxel was capable of, even when others didn't. Lendeborg shot 37 percent from 3-point range, dished out 3.2 assists, and scored 15.1 points per game. That's on top of being an elite defensive stopper, which he will be on day one in the NBA.
A recent mock draft from CBS has the Thunder selecting Lendeborg 12th overall. That's still a lottery pick, but it's still too low for Lendeborg. His impact can go beyond that, and teams that are in the top 10 that pass up on him will regret it.
That's especially true if the reason teams are passing up on him because of his age. That's just not just silly, it's misguided.
So is the idea that Lendeborg has come anywhere close to reaching his ceiling.
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