Over the past few weeks, many have been buzzing about how Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg and the OKC Thunder could prove to be a great match for one another during this year's NBA Draft.
Based on his recent remarks, it seems the Wolverine forward has a similar interest in seeing such a union take form.
While signing autographs at a fan event, a young attendee told Lendeborg, "You got to come to the Thunder, man," to which he responded, "I hope so!"
Following his one-and-done season at Michigan, one that saw him take home Consensus first-team All-American, Big Ten All-Defensive Team, and Big Ten Player of the Year honors, post averages of 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.2 blocks on 51.5 percent shooting from the floor and 37.2 percent shooting from deep, and win an NCAA Championship, the belief is that Lendeborg will be scooped up somewhere in the mid-to-late lottery.
Fortunately for the Thunder, that's exactly when they're predicted to fall on the clock.
Thunder could end up with two lottery picks in 2026 NBA Draft
Though most title-hopefuls fall toward the back-end of the draft, thanks to the wheeling and dealing ways of Sam Presti over the last several years, the Thunder could realistically find themselves on the clock twice within the first 14 selections on the night.
As a result of the 2019 Paul George trade and the 2020 Al Horford trade, Oklahoma City owns the rights to the LA Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers first round picks in this year's festivities.
As things currently stand, both ball clubs will be participating in this week's Play-In Tournament, meaning their status for this year's playoff picture is still up in the air.
For Los Angeles, they find themselves squaring off against the Golden State Warriors in a one-loss elimination bout set for Wednesday evening. Heading into the contest, it seems star forward Kawhi Leonard is slated to be at less than 100 percent due to wrist and ankle issues that have been bothering him for the past few weeks.
As for Philadelphia, while they may be heading into their matchup against the Orlando Magic with the known security that if they lose, they'll have one more game waiting for them to lock up the eighth seed in the East, reports have just surfaced that their star center, Joel Embiid, will be sidelined for the tournament entirely.
Given how things are currently unfolding, it seems rather realistic that the Thunder could go on to win this year's NBA Championship and have a lottery pick in the 2026 draft.
In fact, should all go right for them, they could actually be in possession of two top-14 picks, making the odds of OKC adding Lendeborg all the more likely.
Add us as a preferred source on Google