Michigan transfer commit Yaxel Lendeborg shares latest on NBA Draft decision: 'I'm dead in the middle now'

CHICAGO — Michigan Wolverines basketball is waiting on the decision of UAB transfer commit Yaxel Lendeborg, who plans to choose between the NBA and coming to Ann Arbor sometime before May 28.

Michigan head coach Dusty May has been watching Lendeborg play and test at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, and he had some lighthearted words for his potential future player when they crossed paths.

“He was like, ‘Yeah, you’re doing good, but try not to do that good!’ Just a little joke, but it was cool. I liked that,” Lendeborg said with a big laugh.

Lendeborg, who’s had a standout week, said earlier in the week that he was ’50-50′ or ’60-40′ in favor of coming to Michigan. But after a few days working out and meeting with teams, he’s firmly on the fence.

“I know I just said 60-40 with Michigan, man, but this whole process is really opening my eyes,” Lendeborg stated. “I feel like now I’m definitely equal. I’m super stuck — quicksand, whatever you want to call it. I’m stuck in between, for sure.

“This whole NBA thing has been insane. I’m pretty even. I love Michigan. I love the idea of going over there and developing, but the NBA is just what everybody wants, so I’m dead in the middle now. It’s hard.”

Added Lendeborg, of what’s opened his eyes: “The different pace, how much better these guys are over here. I didn’t see too many misses when we were playing the other team, and that’s completely different from the AAC. We were playing, you can sag off a guy and he wouldn’t really hurt you, but you can’t really do that out here. A lot of guys are super athletic, and it’s really something to be in.”

The 6-foot-9, 240-pounder is looking for a promise from a team that they would draft him in the first round.

“I just want to be in a position where I’m safe, where I know I can get the opportunity to play, opportunity to prove myself,” Lendeborg said. “Hopefully, a guaranteed contract would be cool.”

Added Lendeborg, of what he’s aiming for: “A team saying that they’ll take me for sure, so I can know. We’ll have those conversations in the background and making sure we’re all set.

“I hope it happens before May 28. Me and my agency are gonna talk as much as we can to try to get a promise from one team, just one team. That’s all we need. If it doesn’t happen by then, the decision’s gonna be really hard to make.”

It wouldn’t be a done deal that Lendeborg would stay in the draft with a guarantee, but it could tip the scales in that direction.

“Thinking about it now, my ultimate goal would be to try to crack the top 20,” the Michigan commit said. “Hopefully, I can get that. If not, then it’ll be a little easier to make my decision, because you never know how that goes above 20. Above 30, it gets worse. Hopefully, I can grab that top 20 and see where I go from there.”

There have been instances where NBA prospects have received promises from teams that didn’t end up taking them when they could have. That’s something Lendeborg has thought about.

“I am afraid of that situation. I hope that I don’t get stuck if I get somewhere,” he said. “That’s something I am worried about, yeah.”

The forward said he wouldn’t be devastated if he decided to wait a year on the NBA and come to Michigan.

“I love Michigan,” Lendeborg said. “I was there for like three days, and I fell in love with it immediately. The fans have been very supportive of me, as well, texting me as much as they can, saying that they’re fine with me either way. That’s something I love.”

Lendeborg visited Michigan at the end of April despite being in the middle of draft prep, and it was his idea to see Ann Arbor.

“I texted Dusty May and asked if I could come up,” Lendeborg revealed. “He said, ‘Yeah.’ When I got there, it was amazing.

“The message they gave me was they’re gonna be willing to wait for me the whole time. They don’t want to rush me into anything. Whatever I want to do, they’re gonna support me either way. They worked me out, they were there talking to me and it was just super genuine. That’s what it was about.”

The decision-making process has been “stressful,” Lendeborg admitted.

“The draft process is something that’s hard to deal with, because I obviously love Michigan a lot, but the NBA is the all-time goal,” he said. “It’s been really hard thinking about it. I’ve been trying to talk to God as much as I can if I can get any signs or anything, but I haven’t gotten anything yet. Hopefully it comes pretty soon because I don’t have that much time left.”