March 30th, 1992. Sixers at Warriors. That day I was a four year old rapscallion and it was the first time basketball asked something of me.

There was a massive scoreboard, hanging colorfully and ominously over the Oakland Coliseum Arena. The numbers on it kept changing; I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what the heck was going on. Those grown men leaping about on the hardwood, tossing the ball through the net, while gradually flipping those big numbers in the sky. My father’s stepdad chilled next to me in the stands while I pestered him with the kind of maddeningly relentless questioning that is enough to drive anyone bonkers.

I distinctly remember Charles Barkley was going nuts that night, and whether you were 4 or 400 years old it was clear he was getting busy and putting in work. Everytime he snatched a big rebound or scored on a putback I’d leap up and scream because he was the only name I already knew walking in. My grandfather let this go on for the better part of three quarters before he finally leaned over and dropped the single most devastating piece of information anyone had given me in my five years on Earth: that guy’s not on our team. What?!

Barkley was clearly the best player in the building and I wasn’t allowed to like him anymore: stunning and disappointing to say the least. I hadn’t even learned my own team’s players’ names yet and the Warriors were already breaking my heart.

Thankfully Tim Hardaway was putting on a show for my actual team though. Golden State just ran Philly out of the building that night. Once I figured out who I was allowed to root for, I turned to my grandfather in the fourth quarter and asked him for the coach’s name. He absentmindedly told me it was Coach Don Nelson, but everybody calls him Nellie.

Fast forward to college in Savannah, Georgia in 2007 where I was a young art student trying to figure out life in the South. I was hooping five days a week, balling like a young Anthony Randolph, running with some dudes from the Eastern time zone who didn’t care anything about the Golden State Warriors.

I’d bring the team up and get the same response every single time. Wait where’s Golden State? That’s by LA, right? And then the conversation would just drift right back to Kobe and LeBron like I hadn’t said a word. I was one guy repping a team that, to everyone around me, felt like a rumor.

Then the We Believe Warriors happened, and suddenly I had proof of life of the Bay’s basketball genius.

You remember that eight seed sneaking into the playoffs, drawing the 67-win, top-seeded Mavericks in round one? Yea that matchup should have been terrifying for the Dubs on paper. Hall-of-Famer Dirk Nowitzki was the MVP that year, formerly mentored by Coach Nelson in Dallas.

My mom mailed me a We Believe shirt and I wore that thang out watching Golden State snatch the series. There was Baron Davis going bananas while Nellie just decided you know what, we’re getting even smaller. By playing without centers he forced Dallas to bench their own starting big man just trying to keep up; absolutely diabolical.

When Golden State vanquished the #1 seed with contempt, and Roaracle basked in the glow up, I literally burst into tears as my boys went crazy in my dorm room. Don Nelson, that crazy mad scientist, had done the unthinkable: made the Warriors relevant again.

In 2009, the We Believe magic had turned into ash. Gone were Baron Davis and Jason Richardson, Monta Ellis and Stephen Jackson weren’t moving the needle, and the Warriors drafted a skinny young lad from Davidson named Stephen Curry. My group chat’s reaction was immediate and unanimous: Curry’s nice with it, but we already got Monta! And here we go with this small ball stuff again! Didn’t work with Run TMC and didn’t fully work with We Believe either. Now we’re doubling down on small again?

Even Monta himself made it pretty clear around media day that he didn’t love the idea of running two small guards out there in a conference full of big backcourts. And for a while, the record backed him up completely. The Warriors were still terrible.

But Nellie had spent his whole career being the one coach in the building willing to ignore the size chart on the wall. In his very last season on a bench, he pointed that same stubbornness at that rookie Curry. Once that kid got rolling around January, he was putting up rookie numbers that were putting him into the conversation for best prospects. He broke the rookie record for triples with 166.

Nellie had seen something in Curry years before he became the most terrifying force in basketball history. And when he retired in 2010, Coach Nelson had left the Warriors with a franchise shifting player, a guy who would change basketball forever.

Here’s where I’d like to now bring up my other sports fanatic grandfather aka Papa. Remember my dad’s stepdad was the one who casually handed me the Coach’s nickname in the fourth quarter. The other one, my mom’s dad, spent decades arguing with everything that name Nellie stood for. He. Absolutely. Hated it. Every single time the Warriors got out-rebounded or bullied in the paint, he’d give the same explanation like clockwork: That’s that silly Don Nelson ball. We need a big man!!

And here’s the part that still cracks me up thinking about it. Even after the Warriors won it all multiple times he never fully let it go. Papa would watch them hoist a trophy after destroying their opponent and still shake his head and mutter you can’t win a championship playing like that, especially chucking up threes the way they do.

My grandfathers are gone now. Grandpa told me the name of the coach who revolutionized the game of basketball. Papa spent every phone call and every Christmas Day game reminding me that Don Nelson was a fool who never won a championship because he refused to obey the laws of Big Man Basketball. Nowadays, Nellieball has caught like wildfire.

The speed and creativity that goes into positionless basketball has shifted the game forever. Watch any possession in today’s NBA and Nellie’s fingerprints are all over it. Papa would still probably call it terrible and I’d still chuckle lol. Coach Nelson’s basketball philosophy in the Bay gave plenty of material for my grandfathers to connect with their precocious grandson. It gave both of them (and myself) something to believe in and something to argue about. I miss all of it.

Rest in Peace Coach Nellie, and thank you for everything.

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Even though the Summer Warriors dropped a game to the Super Stacked Memphis Grizzlies. They still made it to the Summer League Semis on record and aggregate margin of victory. Their reward is playing in the Semi-Finals on Saturday.

Raymond Ridder DoubleR_PR says, [[ Warriors seeking their second Las Vegas Summer League championship (2013 prior, led by …

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Remaining Warriors games

• Thursday, July 16 — vs. New York Knicks, 4:00 PM PT, ESPN2 / NBCSBA, Cox Pavilion

• One more game TBA

Warriors Roster

The official roster is at nba.com here.

2026 Draft Picks

• #1 Yaxel Lendeborg — F • 6-9, 241 • Rookie • Michigan • 2026 pick 11

  • Does it all, but can he make a defensive rotation and get in game shape before he starts collec…

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Remaining Warriors games

• Sunday, July 12 — vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 3:00 PM PT, Prime Video / NBCSBA+, Thomas & Mack Center

• Tuesday, July 14 — vs. Memphis Grizzlies, 4:00 PM PT, ESPN / NBCSBA, Cox Pavilion

• Thursday, July 16 — vs. New York Knicks, 4:00 PM PT, ESPN2 / NBCSBA, Cox Pavilion

• One more game TBA

Warriors Roster

The official roster is at nba.com here

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NBA Summer League new rules and schedule

From The Athletic:

The California and Salt Lake City circuits introduce two trial runs to the summer league.

All foul shooters take a single free throw, with that one shot worth the number of attempts it replaces, until the final two minutes of a game. To spell that out:

• The free throw is worth one point after a tech…

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The first round, summarized

I discussed the pick thoroughly yesterday:

• GSW pick Yaxel Lendeborg at #11, the most-ready, best-fitting big man available

And here from a fashion perspective is friend of the show Marisa Thinkmoo:

• We Don’t Know Ball’s 2026 NBA Draft Reactions

And here is Yaxel on himself (and his mother):

• How My Mom Saved My Life

Before the second round

To know which player you hope will fall to GSW, here are 13 players potentially draftable at #54.

Here are the players that BPM and CHAWBPM have their eye on:

Confirmed workouts with GSW

• Ugonna Onyenso, Virginia, C (#6 BPM, #76 CHAW)

• Maliq Brown, Duke, Wing F (#7 BPM, #188 CHAW)

• Dillon Mitchell, St. John’s, PF/C (#29 BPM, #217 CHAW)

• Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State, Scoring PG (#34 BPM, #134 CHAW)

• Emanuel Sharp, Houston, Combo G (#58 BPM, #50 CHAW)

• Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee, Pure PG (#61 BPM, #37 CHAW)

• Nate Bittle, Oregon, PF/C (#83 BPM, #30 CHAW)

• Tucker DeVries, Indiana, Wing G (#126 BPM, #51 CHAW)

• Quadir Copeland, NC State, Pure PG (#178 BPM, #49 CHAW)

No confirmed workouts with GSW

• Bruce Thornton, Ohio State, Combo G (#18 BPM, #106 CHAW)

• Rafael Castro, George Washington, C (#38 BPM, #98 CHAW)

• Izaiyah Nelson, South Florida, C (#44 BPM, #97 CHAW)

• Nick Boyd, Wisconsin, Scoring PG (#93 BPM, #39 CHAW)

If you are bored, you can dig into their statistics and video highlights yourself.

MDJ drafted players in the last two drafts whose team workouts had been kept secret., It would be just like him to draft one of the “no confirmed workouts” list.

My eye is on Bruce Thornton, a sweet shooting, downhill point guard, whose main issue is being a little short and a lot old. I’m not crazy about the bigs, as I think BPM overrates big man statistics. I do note that Onyenso has a crazy amount of blocks so maybe I could see him.

How to watch the Second Round

• The second round will be on Wednesday, June 24 (5 PT, ESPN)*

• *Fans outside of the US & Canada can stream both rounds on League Pass

It’s honestly a bit old-fashioned to (only) watch this on TV. If you want to be 5-10 minutes ahead of the televised draft, follow this comment section.

So, if you don’t want spoilers, turn off Bluesky and all social media, and avoid this comment section. Everyone is encouraged to post news here as soon as you have it from a reputable source.

• In theory, the NBA made the Second Round a second day not just for ratings, but because teams requested more time to reflect on the first round and try to pull off deals.

• In the same vein, second round picks will now have 4 minutes on the clock each (up from 2 minutes a couple of years ago).

• The Warriors will have the #54 picks.

• That means the #54 pick is estimated to be 24 x 4 = 96 minutes after start time (which is usually around 5:15).

Also, things may be shaken up with the announcement of trades changing which team is picking at which slot.

5:15-6:07. Picks 31 to 40

• Other teams shuffle around and pick players.

• (2025 pick #40 happened at 6:07pm.)

• The Warriors MIGHT make a trade in the middle of the draft.

  • In 2025, GSW made a mid-draft trade: PHX gets #41, GSW gets #52 (Alex Toohey) and #59. Then GSW traded up from #59 to #56 to take Will Richard.

  • In 2024, GSW first traded #52 for Lindy Waters. Then they traded cash to get #52 (Quinten Post) back.

  • In 2023, GSW traded Patrick Baldwin Jr for the #57 (Trayce Jackson-Davis) pick.

6:07-6:51. Picks 41 to 50

• (2025 pick #50 happened at 6:51pm.)

• If you are a hardcore draft junkie, this round will be fascinating.

Otherwise…

6:51-7:07. Picks 51-53, then Warriors Pick 54

Let the future unfold!

Table of Contents

• Draft Pick Analysis: Yaxel was inevitable

  • Yaxel eye test

  • Yaxel stats test

  • Yaxel qualms

  • Yaxel alternatives

  • Yaxel conclusions

• Yaxel Lendeborg Scouting Report

• Apricot’s Live Commentary on Draft Night

Draft Pick Analysis: Yaxel was inevitable

The Warriors selected Yaxel Lendeborg with the number 11 pick! If you wanted to pick a player that was mos…

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Here are the Draft Tournaments and Live Draft Day threads since 2020.

Before the draft

To know which player you hope will fall to GSW, check out the Apricot’s 2026 Draft Tournament. That lists 15 players most likely to be drafted by GSW at #11, along with 13 players potentially draftable at #54.

Not too late to say I TOLD YOU SO

• DNHQ long timer void has kindly offered up a chance for you to register your Big Board for the Top 30 prospects. I’ve asked him if he can add a stripped down version with just the players in the tour

• This is completely optional of course.

• However, if you plan to brag about your wisdom in the future, it is not optional to record your draft preferences SOMEWHERE. So, why not record it at void’s site?

• An honest thinker puts their forecasts down in writing, since everyone in the future can just cherry pick and say “oh yeah, look how smart I am, I had X over Y” which every braggart does.

• Also, we forget over time what our ranking was and it’s good to remember your bad takes as well as the good.

How to watch the First Round

• The first round will be held at Tuesday, June 23 (5 PT, ABC & ESPN)*

• The second round will be on Wednesday, June 24 (5 PT, ESPN)*

• *Fans outside of the US & Canada can stream both rounds on League Pass

It’s honestly a bit old-fashioned to (only) watch this on TV. If you want to be 5-10 minutes ahead of the televised draft, follow this comment section.

So, if you don’t want spoilers, turn off Bluesky and all social media, and avoid this comment section. Everyone is encouraged to post news here as soon as you have it from a reputable source.

• As for when the actual picks start, history has the picks beginning about 10-15 minutes from the TV start time.

• Each team has 5 minutes to choose for the 30 first round picks. The time of the official pick announcement sometimes seems to be longer than that.

• In theory, the NBA made the Second Round a second day not just for ratings, but because teams requested more time to reflect on the first round and try to pull off deals.

• In the same vein, second round picks will now have 4 minutes on the clock each (up from 2 minutes a couple of years ago).

• The Warriors will have the #11 and #54 picks.

• That means the #11 pick is estimated to be 55 minutes after start time, which is usually around 5:15. But if you have time, I would tune in earlier, as part of the fun is watching to see if your favorite pick might slip down to #11.

Also, things may be shaken up with the announcement of trades changing which team is picking at which slot.

5:15-5:35. First 4 picks

These should be in some order

• Cameron Boozer

• Darryn Peterson

• AJ Dybantsa

• Caleb Wilson

5:35-6:00. Picks 5 to 9

These will PROBABLY be in some order

• Keaton Wagler

• Darius Acuff Jr.

• Kingston Flemings

• Mikel Brown Jr.

• Brayden Burries

6:00-6:05. Pick 10

• Last chance for DAL to spoil our day.

• DAL just hired Dusty May as head coach. May was recently the coach of the national champion Michigan team, which also had prospects Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara. It would not be surprising if DAL reached and took one of the UM prospects, which would potentially let any Top 9 prospects that slipped to #10 also slip down to #11.

6:05-6:10. Warriors Pick 11

We’ve extensively analyzed this. Let the future unfold!

If you have time to kill

Instead of having a nervous breakdown, consider listening to one of my all-time favorite podcasts from a couple of years ago. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at the draft room from someone who was with the Suns during the Devin Booker draft…

Among the revelations:

• there’s a special private chat with every team where the draft runs about 10 picks ahead of the broadcast, so there is time to pull off trades that depend on players being available. No, Woj is not in the chat; it’s ahead of even Woj.

• the value and non-value of workouts

• so by draft week, you’ve done your evaluations of prospects and have a Big Board. Your main work is evaluating trade offers, especially scouting current NBA players and projecting team success to properly value future draft picks

• on draft night, half the league sends last minute trade offers for your pick

• how he got Booker wrong (undervaluing him by overvaluing on-ball defense)

• how to put together a summer league around your draft pick

• and more

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Why do we do this Draft Tournament?

The tournament is designed for people who are not draft experts to catch up at a casual pace on prospects in the Warriors range. For this reaso…

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