Warriors turned down Thunder’s draft trade offer

Recently, the Golden State Warriors selected Yaxel Lendeborg with the number 11 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Lendeborg was one of the more polished prospects in this draft class, and will now join a Golden State team looking to wring whatever it can out of the twilight years of Stephen Curry’s NBA career.

Now, more information is coming to light on a trade that the Warriors turned down on draft night involving the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“The Thunder were offering the 17th pick and some future assets to move up to number 11 to try to get Aday Mara in that spot, but they really didn’t see a need to…” said Siegel, per ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter.

The Thunder ended up selecting Mara with the number 12 pick, while trading their other first round selection, giving them a big man to help them contend with Victor Wembanyama moving forward in future playoff battles with the San Antonio Spurs.

Meanwhile, it’s no surprise that the Warriors ended up taking one of the older prospects in this draft class in Lendeborg, who recently won a national championship with the Michigan Wolverines and figures to be able to contribute right away to a veteran Warriors team that exited in the play-in tournament for the second time in three years this past season.

It’s unclear what other avenues the Warriors might explore this offseason to try to get better, or if they will simply bank on a strong rookie season from Lendeborg and an eventual injury return from Jimmy Butler to help get them back into contender status in the Western Conference.

NBA free agency is slated to open for business on June 30.