Sam Presti and the Oklahoma City Thunder have got most roster-building decisions right in recent years, but they continue to be criticized for a recent missed opportunity to jump up ahead of the Golden State Warriors to land Yaxel Lendeborg.
Lendeborg went 11th to the Warriors at June's NBA Draft, leaving the Thunder to take his Michigan championship teammate Aday Mara at 12. The early returns certainly aren't going in Oklahoma City's favor based on what we saw in summer league, and it could further burn the franchise as they look for a second championship in three seasons.
Warriors benefit from Thunder blowing Yaxel Lendeborg opportunity
Speaking recently on the Game Theory podcast with The Athletic's Sam Vecenie, analyst Bryce Simon declared the Thunder should have simply given up what they needed to in order to acquire the 11th pick and take Lendeborg.
"Overpay to go to 11 and get Yaxel. Just pay whatever Golden State is telling you. You put yourself in this situation to have all of these extra picks and all of this stuff," Simon said. "This was the time to do it. This was the time for us all to sit down and go, 'man they gave up way too much to move up one spot,' but also sit here and say 'Yaxel is a perfect fit and he's going to be awesome for them this year.'"
It's also worth suggesting that given their still very rich pile of assets, the Thunder could have actually tried to go even higher to take Lendeborg or another prospect, rather than negotiate with the Warriors who may not have been incentivized to make a trade with a Western Conference rival.
Lendeborg would go on to lead Golden State to summer league glory and win tournament MVP, averaging 14.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 45.9% from 3-point range across eight games dating back to the start of the California Classic. Mara, meanwhile, was far less impressive and projects to be further down the pecking order of a Thunder big man rotation that already features Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Jaylin Williams and Thomas Sorber.
Thunder's championship window makes Lendeborg mistake greater
Oklahoma City are right in the window and as much as their path to a title should stay open for years, finding a way to acquire Lendeborg would have been perfect for their win-now aspirations. Conversely, not trading up could be an even greater mistake given the context of their situation.
Even if Mara proves a better player in four or five years, Lendeborg's ability to impact straight away could have made for a real playoff difference, not to mention the Thunder have far less wing/forward depth than they do big men.
The Warriors are already benefiting from the Thunder's decision to stay put, and only time may deliver revelations on how close Presti was to making a move for Lendeborg or another prospect earlier in the draft.
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