Warriors Big Board: Top Draft Options at No. 11

The result of Sunday's NBA Draft Lottery wasn't what Golden State Warriors fans wanted, but there's still reason to be optimistic about the 2026 draft.

The Warriors landed the 11th pick, which has a better chance of producing a high-quality starter than it would in most other drafts.

My Warriors big board has 12 players in my top two tiers. The big board is based almost entirely on how they will project to the NBA, but I did give a little boost to players at positions of need.

At the moment, the two biggest needs are wings with size and a dynamic ball-handling guard.

Warriors Big Board

Star Potential

1. SF AJ Dybantsa, BYU
2. G Darryn Peterson, Kansas
3. SF Caleb Wilson, UNC
4. C Cam Boozer, Duke

By most accounts, these are the four prospects with cornerstone potential. Some analysts include Keaton Wagler or Darius Acuff Jr. in their top tier, but for now they will top the next tier.

High-End Starter

5. PG Keaton Wagler, Illinois
6. PG Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
7. PG Kingston Flemings, Houston
8. PG Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville
9. PG Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama
10. PF Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
11. SG Brayden Burries, Arizona
12. SF Karim Lopez, New Zealand Breakers

Most expect Wagler, Acuff, Flemings and Brown to be taken before the Warriors pick. So my focus will be mostly on the last four players here, which I'll get to below.

Beginning of Low-End Starter Tier

13. C Aday Mara, Michigan
14. SF Nate Ament, Tennessee

There are several others who will make this tier, but I wanted to highlight the two guys who will be mocked to the Warriors several times in the next few weeks.

Mara dominated the Final Four to put himself into the lead for the class' second-best center. It's easy to worry about a 7'3" player's ability to defend in today's pace-and-space era, but Zach Edey has shown with the Grizzlies that a slower center can be valuable as long they defend the rim and rebound at a high rate, which Mara is capable of.

I've already suggested that the Warriors avoid taking Ament, but at some point in the first round he will be worth taking a shot on. It just seems like in this strong draft, taking such a question mark at 11th would be foolish.

Debating Philon, Lendeborg, Burries and Lopez

Let's start with Philon, a 20-year-old combo guard who would instantly be one of the Warriors' most dynamic offensive players. Philon's weakness is his slender frame and how he could be target on defense unless he bulks up. But he's not bad on that end, and his ability to both attack the paint and make tough threes would be valuable. I argued that he could be similar to Jordan Poole for Golden State.

Lendeborg has already become Warriors fans' draft crush. His doubters will mention that players drafted at 23 years old or older rarely pop in the NBA. But Lendeborg might be an outlier. He has size (6'9"), strength (240 lbs), passing instincts, paint-scoring touch and a decent three-point stroke (37.2 percent). He'll likely never be a top-two offensive option because he doesn't have much ball-handling potential, but he'll be plenty valuable as a two-way force.

Burries projects to be a great shooter, but the question is what else will he be excel at? He can rebound, defend and be a solid secondary ball-handler, but he doesn't have the explosiveness to be a true lead guard. There's a good chance he ends up being a slightly better-shooting version of Brandin Podziemski, which would be a solid NBA player but wouldn't fill a need.

Lopez's stats in the NBL (11.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 50.2 FG%) were very good for a 19-year-old. He has pick-and-roll ball-handling potential that Lendeborg doesn't, which gives him a higher ceiling. But he's not at the same level as Lendeborg on defense or when shooting threes (32.6 percent). I'll be curious to see Lopez's measurements at the combine. It would help his cause if he's truly 6'9".

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