Pacific Notes: Lendeborg, Warriors' Two-Way Spots, Acuff, Lakers Cap
Warriors lottery pick Yaxel Lendeborg earned Summer League Most Valuable Player honors while leading Golden State to the Las Vegas title. Was that enough for him to impress longtime Warriors Stephen Curry and Draymond Green?
Lendeborg isn’t quite sure about that, according to Curry fan Alexa Demie (Twitter link).
“Yeah, I hope so man. I don’t know if Draymond… I hope Draymond likes it man, ‘cause we’ve been over here going back and forth,” he said. “But I mean, the Michigan thing, you know, we’re bringing dubs, we bring championships, we win. So I mean, you got to respect it, you feel me? So go Dubs, and hopefully them boys can enjoy seeing what they saw. And when it comes time to play in the regular season, hopefully they stay with me.”
Green starred at Michigan State, while Lendeborg was a starter for Michigan’s championship team.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Guard LJ Cryer and Malevy Leons currently hold two of the Warriors’ three two-way deals and NBCSportsBayArea’s Dalton Johnson believes both solidified their roster spots during Summer League action. Johnson believes Cryer will compete for a spot on the 15-man roster. Leons still needs to improve as a shooter but his energy and attention to detail also give him a shot to gain minutes with the NBA club. Second-round pick LaJae Jones, big man Graham Ike and guard Chance McMillian are some of the possibilities for the other two-way slot. Center Lachlan Olbrich, a 2025 second-rounder who played for the Bulls, also showed enough in Vegas to warrant consideration.
- The No. 7 overall pick in the draft, Kings guard Darius Acuff Jr., played erratically across five Summer League games in the California Classic and Las Vegas, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. The former Arkansas point guard shot 35% from the field and just 27% on 3-point attempts. He averaged 20.8 points but had 19 turnovers compared to 23 assists. One unnamed Western Conference scout raised some alarm bells about Acuff’s immediate future. “A lot of rookie guards will struggle at summer league; it’s not the end of the world. But [Acuff] was the loudest of the [rookie lottery guards] struggling,” he said. “His defense wasn’t great, and his floor game was rough at times. I don’t care that much about bad shooting. What did Steph [Curry] shoot in summer league? No one remembers. It’s a couple games.”
- After signing Kevon Looney and Ziaire Williams and reportedly signing Matisse Thybulle to veteran’s minimum deals, the Lakers are still $8.1MM under the first apron, cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets. Including Thybulle, they now have 16 players under guaranteed contracts, one more than the maximum. They have the ability to make a two-for-one trade or sign-and-trade and bring in more salary due to their room under the hard cap, Gozlan adds.