Aday Mara and Yaxel Lendeborg: National Champion Friends to Summer League Foes
· Yahoo Sports
The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors will battle it out in a Las Vegas Summer League game on Sunday night.
But the real game within the game is two former national champion teammates facing off for the first time.
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Golden State drafted forward Yaxel Lendeborg with the #11 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Oklahoma City selected his fellow Michigan Wolverine teammate, center Aday Mara, one pick later at #12. As rare as it is to see two players from the same school going in the lottery, neither of them were even the first Michigan player picked. That honor went to Morez Johnson Jr, drafted at #9 overall by the Dallas Mavericks and their new head coach Dusty May.
It is obviously much too early to have any idea which of the three Wolverine rookies will end up as the most impactful rookie, that hasn’t stopped fans and analysts from making sweeping statements and opinions. While Lendeborg has shined in both Utah and Las Vegas, Mara has not had the same sort of impact so far in Summer League. As expected, those early results have spurred “future star” proclamations for Lendeborg and “bust” declarations for Mara.
The knee jerk reactions have been exacerbated due to Lendeborg and Johnson Jr both being popular fan choices for OKC to draft at #12.
The truth is that the two players are in completely different circumstances in these exhibition games.
Lendeborg is 23 years old and comes into the league as a polished prospect. He has a physical maturity advantage over the majority of his current competition. The versatile wing has been the focus of the Warriors offense. Lendeborg has a high usage and is stuffing the stat sheet.
Mara turned 21 years old in April and still has a ways to go in his development. His massive 7’3” and 260 pound body will continue to fill out and add muscle. Most importantly, Mara’s offensive game is built around playmaking and play finishing. Those two traits rely heavily on teammates. In Summer League, young players are looking to make a name for themselves so there is less looking for the big guy on the block and more iso heavy play. Mara has also had plenty of passes to Thunder players that may have resulted in buckets if they were to the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Ajay Mitchell and so on.
Lendeborg has been excellent thus far in Summer League. That is encouraging for Golden State, but it doesn’t mean he is a future star. Mara has struggled to make an impact thus far in Summer League. That doesn’t mean he is a future bust.
But that’s not going to stop anyone from overreacting either way when the two former teammates and good friends clash on Sunday night.