The Golden State Warriors can't ask much more of Yaxel Lendeborg than they've gotten so far.
Through the first five games of the season, he's not only established himself as an immediate contributor to this team in the absences of Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody—he's been a revelation as a second option and a true leader of the offense. He's averaged 22.6 points on 47.5% shooting from the field, and that's a completely necessary development given the indefinite absence of Kristaps Porzingis.
But more importantly, he's also flashed a skill set as a ball handler in the halfcourt when Stephen Curry has been off the court. That's a problem Golden State has been attempting to solve since before the Jimmy Butler trade, and it's astounding that a rookie has presented the solution in his first set of NBA games.
That's not what Lendeborg was known for entering the league, though, and his seven turnovers on Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwoles are evidence that there's still ample growth there to be taken on. But at the end of the day, who cares if there's some inconsistencies right now?
Lendeborg has shown so much maturity, and so much willingness to grow, already that it's hard not to think we'll be seeing a major playmaking leap in the near future. And that's the sort of development that, when Butler and Moody return, could give this Warriors rotation an infinitely more complete complexion.
Yaxel Lendeborg's next leap is as a playmaker—and it's already coming
Again, it's unreasonable to ask for more out of Lendeborg than what we've seen so far. But the Warriors are in a position to saddle him with as much responsibility as possible, and that means we're going to see constant improvement on a night-to-night basis out of the rookie.
He played a relatively complete game in Golden State's victory over Minnesota. He was still willing to work his way downhill to the basket, sinking nine of his 15 shots from inside the arc, and he still operated as a complete rebounder against a physical Minnesota frontcourt. We've also seen him rapidly increase his understanding of his role as an off-ball defender, which Steve Kerr highlighted as an area for improvement after the Warriors' first couple of games.
If there's one knock against his performance, though, it's his turnovers. That's something that Kerr harped on all offseason, and Lendeborg was clearly capable of getting sped up by Minnesota's aggressive defense when he was entrusted with on-ball duties. He posted seven of the Warriors' 17 turnovers on the night while leveling that off with just a singular assist.
But again, this was only Lendeborg's fifth NBA game. He has five or more assists in three of his outings so far, and these sorts of nights are to be expected from a player acclimating to a large role in an NBA offense. As he's able to clean these things up over the course of the season, he's only going to become a more reliable and more consistent ball handler when Curry is off the court.
Of course, that's a massively important development with how depleted the rotation is right now. It's a role that Butler took on when he was fully healthy, and it's one Golden State desperately needs filled if it's going to manage Curry's minutes in the early parts of this campaign.
But even when Butler returns around mid-season, it's not reasonable to think he'll immediately be able to take on the same share of the offense he did prior to his injury. Even if he starts right away, he's going to need time to acclimate to the demands of the NBA game, and he'll likely operate on a minutes restriction and with a limited offensive role at first.
That gives Golden State about 40 or so games to develop Lendeborg into the polished playmaker that can take that burden off of both Curry and Butler. At the rate he's developing, it seems like he'll get there sometime next week.
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