What We Know and Don't Know About Dunleavy-Lacob Warriors Draft Night Disagreement

Joe Lacob and Mike Dunleavy were caught on camera seemingly disagreeing about something

Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Joe Lacob | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

While the Golden State Warriors were on the clock with the 11th pick of the 2026 draft, ESPN cameras caught a tense exchange between team governor Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr.

Moments later, the Warriors decided to use the pick on Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg.

Here's what we know and what we don't know about the exchange between the two Warriors higher-ups.

What We Know

Before the draft, there were rumors that the Warriors were open to trading down, with reports that they talked with the Charlotte Hornets about a trade package that included the 11th pick being exchanged for the 14th and 18th picks.

It was also reported that they were most enamored with Brayden Burries, and perhaps trading down wouldn't even have been on their radar had Burries fell to pick 11.

But Burries was taken with the 10th pick, which evidently made the Warriors feel like they should listen to trade calls for the 11th pick. The Stein Line's Jake Fischer reported that they did just that.

In the days and hours leading up to the draft, there had been reports that Lendeborg could fall out of the lottery. So it made sense to see what offers were out there. If they could trade down just a couple spots, possibly get Lendeborg anyway and get extra draft capital, that would have been a coup.

Before the draft started, Steve Kerr said the Warriors had exactly 11 players in their must-draft tier. Dunleavy more or less confirmed that after the draft, though he didn't confirm how many of the 11 were left when the Warriors were picking.

This helps explain why the Warriors kept the pick. They likely couldn't trade down far without risking getting nobody in their must-draft tier.

What We Don't Know

Dunleavy was asked about the tense exchange, and he first joked that they had a disagreement about the best golf course in San Francisco before divulging a piece of what happened.

"I think there were some talks about trades and things like that," Dunleavy said. "But ultimately we were all in agreement to land on taking Yaxel."

My read on this quote initially was that Lacob wanted to trade the pick but Dunleavy didn't want to risk moving down and not getting a player they wanted. But then Dunleavy had a second quote about the exchange that told a much different story.

"From our standpoint, we knew we were going to pick Yaxel at 11, he was the guy. But you just want to flush him out, make sure you're not missing anything that falls in your lap or makes a ton of sense. So that's what we were doing. And I think Joe was like, 'Come on, just let's go ahead and pick the guy.’ I said, 'Joe, we have time. They give you five minutes.' He was just getting a little anxious about us taking Yaxel."

This makes it sound like the opposite of what I initially thought. It makes it sound like Lacob wanted Lendeborg badly enough that he didn't want the Warriors to consider trading down.

Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard reported the following:

"The lively draft-room scene broadcast nationally while the Warriors were on the clock was, according to multiple sources, actually Dunleavy and Joe Lacob brushing off a moderate offer to move out of the slot."

So maybe it wasn't a disagreement at all. Maybe it was a spirited discussion in which they agreed with each other.

We can be reasonably sure someone was trying to trade up for the 11th pick, but we don't know how close they were to accepting the offer or which front-office members were pushing for a trade.

Warriors Go Against Previous Draft Strategy

Back when the Warriors had three lottery picks in a two-year span between 2020 and 2021, they took three players aged 19 or younger (James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody). Partially because of that, I've had the impression Lacob values the data around age-related development curves.

There are plenty of arguments as to why a 23-year-old should not be taken in the lottery.

One argument is that an NBA-level 19- or 20-year-old would dominate as a 23-year-old in college to a degree that Lendeborg didn't. Another is that 19- and 20-year-old players drafted to the NBA tend to have major development improvements (especially physically) in their first couple of years in the league, but Lendeborg might not as he's already filled out his frame.

I've argued that they made the right pick, but I understand why some are questioning it.

In any event, Lacob and the Warriors went against their 2020-21 draft strategy in taking Lendeborg.

Time will tell if the Warriors should have taken a younger prospect with more potential for development.