When Yaxel Lendeborg announced he was choosing Michigan over the immediate lure of the NBA, it sparked an intriguing question that MLive’s Andrew Kahn and Aaron McMann tackled:
Who benefits more from this arrangement, Michigan or Lendeborg himself?
The answer, as Kahn suggested on the latest Wolverine Confidential podcast, lies somewhere in the middle.
“The hope, of course, is that it’s mutually beneficial,” Kahn explained, highlighting the delicate balance between team success and individual development that defines modern college basketball.
RELATED: What Yaxel’s decision means for Michigan’s rotation, expectations
For Michigan, the benefits are immediate and substantial. The Wolverines likely will be a trendy pick around the top 10 of preseason polls, and among the Big Ten favorites along with Purdue.
And for Lendeborg, when NBA teams wouldn’t guarantee him first-round status, his path forward crystallized. So it’s off to Ann Arbor to play for head coach Dusty May, who utilized a multi-dimensional forward last season.
“Yaxel said that what Danny Wolf did was a big factor in his decision,” Kahn said.
The question of who benefits more may ultimately prove moot if both parties achieve their goals: Michigan contending for a championship and Lendeborg solidifying his status as a first-round NBA pick.
Listen to the entire Wolverine Confidential episode below:
AI was used to summarize a recent episode of the Wolverine Confidential podcast. This story was reviewed and edited by MLive staff.
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